All Grown Up...and Little
God has perfect timing. Or, maybe I should say, I like it when his timing works out for me. That’s when it really seems perfect.
Last year at Mother’s Day, I struggled hard with my new reality – a mother of four with only three of her kids to celebrate with. Last year, I could not have done anything that required more than simply getting myself through Mother’s Day. This year, I did not have the same pit-of-the-stomach dread for weeks leading up to the day. This year, I was privileged to be asked to share the Mother’s Day message at The Bridge Church in RSM. And I did it without delving into a deep depression during the prep process or breaking down in uncontrollable sobs while speaking. Neither of those would have been abnormal or surprising. Just saying, for me, it’s progress.
I am grateful for God’s timing, that he would bless me this year -- when he knew I was ready -- with the opportunity to share a message on a day that holds so much for me. So much joy, gratitude, pain, laughter, fulfillment, tears, grief, satisfaction, and most of all...so much love.
The message I wanted to share on Mother’s Day was one of encouragement. Encouragement for moms, certainly, but also to all of us in the throes of adulting.
When we’re little, we make sure to tell everyone who asks that we are “almost” six or we are “8 AND ½.” Then we grow up. We get big and we stop adding the “1/2.” We discover that getting big comes with big responsibilities and pressures and problems. And we just want to be little again.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:3: “Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This is a paradox in the kingdom of God.
How do we balance our bigness, our grown-upness, with this littleness that Jesus talks about? And how can doing so make our lives and those of the people we love richer?
That’s what I talk about in my message…All Grown Up…and Little. Click below if you’d like to watch.
God, thank you for the privilege of sharing a message at The Bridge Church this Mother’s Day. I pray that for those who listened and those who will listen, you will give them grace to live in this moment, to trust someone bigger and wiser, and to rest in your unconditional love. May they find in you a safe place to be all grown up...and little. Amen.
