Yesterday morning, my sweet Lily crawled into bed with me and asked, "Is loving someone and liking them the same thing?"
I thought for a moment and then explained to Lily that loving someone is being committed to them through good and bad, wanting their best and being completely for them regardless of their response to you. Liking someone, on the other hand, means that you truly just enjoyed being around them.
"Mom...do you like me?"
"Oh yes, Lily," I said with a hug. "I enjoy you very much. It's so fun to be with you. I really like you...and I love you too!"
Lily and I talked for a bit longer, and then hopped up for some breakfast. I pretty much forgot about the conversation.
until today
This morning, during our Sunday worship, our pastor began praying for people who wanted to move from simply being "committed" Christians, to being zealous lovers of God. Lily told us that she would like him to pray for her. When our pastor laid his hands on Lily's head, he said, "Lily, God loves you."
and then he paused for a moment and said...
"God likes you."
"He enjoys you."
"He enjoys your prayers."
I was in tears. God was answering my precious little girl's question.
Am I likeable?
Oh yes you are, Lily. The Creator of the Universe likes you. He totally enjoys being with you. You better believe that you're likeable!
After the worship time, I asked our pastor why he had said those things to Lily. He told me that he had gotten a strong impression from the Lord that he should tell Lily how much God likes her. "Usually it seems more important that someone knows that God loves them. But for some reason, it seemed that God wanted Lily to know how much He likes her."
Isn't our Lord so kind?! He heard the question of a little girl who was wondering if she was likeable, and He answered it abundantly.
Precious Lily, God likes you.
He enjoys you.
Sweet friend, do you know that God likes you, as well? Like Lily, you probably know that God loves you. And you might even know that your mom loves you. But are you likeable? Does God like you? Does He enjoy being with you?
I am here to tell you that He does.
He really likes you.
He enjoys you.
He enjoys being with you.
He likes to hear from you.
God likes you.
9 comments:
Simply Beautiful!
Oh, sweet Lily.
"And a little child shall lead them."
So precious, and so true.
BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Kim
Wow! What a special message He was sending for Lily. Such a sweet girl. Beautiful post.
I just love how much God loves us AND likes us!!! And how He is in even the tiny details!
Lily has the most amazing soul! Praise GOD he chose a mommy for her who really listens to what she is asking.
I just love how our Lord KNOWS ALL! He knew what your sweet little Lilly had asked and he spoke through your Pastor! Thank you Jesus!
Love this- thanks for sharing!
Sarah,
I read this when you posted, but didn't have time to comment. I have thought about it several times since I read it--What a blessing it was for Lily to hear from the Lord that God likes her! And what a blessing your reminder was to me, that God LIKES us. He loves me, and He likes me!
Teddi made a card a while back, for Lily--and I have been slow in mailing it. Today she picked it up, and reminded me of this. When I told her, yes, we needed to get Lily's card in the mail, she replied with, "I LIKE her. I miss her."
Tonight after prayers she talked about Lily again. She motioned in the air with her hands, and said, "This is my China (and then pointing in the air)--this is MY house . . . and over here-- Lily's house . . . . and then I went to Texas." So sweet. Teddi is just beginning to really try to figure this whole thing out, and I think it brings her comfort to know that Lily was in China, like her. We like Lily! :)
Thank you so much for sharing your Lily's heart (and God's heart) with us.
Love,
Tina
Lily has such wonderful insight. I liked hearing about the prayers of your pastor. There are some of us failing hearts out hear who would just do well to become committed Christians even. I am one of those souls. And to this, I just heard on NPR yesterday that between 1900 and 2008, church attendance in the Netherlands had fallen from 99% on Sundays to 1%. The commentator noted that all across Europe, similar results were noted, with declines from 4-1%. The program was on revamping the church here in America so that we do not suffer such drastic decline. And so you see, with the emphasis on humanism, it becomes difficult to understand or even know what a committed Christian looks like these days, much less one who zealously loves the Lord. But I think Lily paints a beautiful picture of such a zealous lover.
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