I learned a very valuable lesson on love from my six year old one night before Valentine's Day arrived. She and I were sitting at the dining room table working on her valentines for school. We had them all laid out in front of her so she could pick and choose which card went to which friend. I would read the name and she would ponder over which valentine would be perfect for that particular child.
I came to the name of a little boy that Nevaeh had ongoing trouble with all school year. He would call her names and just made her pretty miserable at times. She looked through the valentines and picked up the nicest one and said "I will give this one to him so he can see I like him even if he is mean to me."
Now, I want to be completely honest with you...as her mommy, I wanted to just not even give the kid a valentine. After all, he was not nice to my sweet little girl. He hurt her feelings many times throughout the school year. There were many nights that she would pray that he would be nicer to her. She continues to be nice to him each day, just hoping that this will be the day that he will finally be kind to her.
I came across scripture that truly spoke to my heart. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that." Luke 5:32-33
It is so easy to love people that love us. Easy to be nice to someone that is nice to us. How easy is it to love a person that is not the most loveable? Yet, that is what Christ expects of us. How many times has He loved us when we have deserved it the least?
The little boy that isn't so nice to my daughter.....not much has changed there. But, Nevaeh is determined to be nice to him and show love. She does this almost effortlessly with God's love in her heart.
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You know, never underestimate a child. I think the older we get, the LESS wise we become. I was having a really HORRIBLE day, and no one around here nonticed. I mean, I'd been crying behind closed doors, I'd not been hungry all day... etc. etc. Well, I was sitting on the couch, the kids were taking naps, and I wasn't doing ANYTHING out of the ordinary. Here comes Layne... she walked right down the stairs, over to the TV, turned it off, got up on the couch beside me, TOOK MY HAND, and said, "It's ok, Mommy. You can cry." I LOST IT!!! Probably the most memorable moment in my life. Every adult I knew didn't have a faintest of cluse that I wasn't feeling good... but my 5 year old did. Amazing.
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