The Blissful Ache

 

Sharing this one again as we watch our newest grandchild, Brooklyn.  This goes for grandchildren as well as children.

     There is nothing quite like the blissful ache of loving a child. The over-powering love that takes you through chaotic sleepless nights, questioning the cry. Are they hungry? Are they tired? Are they hurt? Are they sick? Trips to the doctor, tender moments of the first laugh or first step or first steps onto the school bus. That first step that opens up a world away from you.

     The years move with ever-increasing swiftness, but the blissful ache remains. Are they happy? Are they texting while they are driving? Will they be safe when they go out? The love acts as a magnet. And the blissful ache continues with the next generation, our grandkids. The mind and heart consistently respond to their joy, their laughter, their pain, their hopes and dreams. There is really no earthly comparison to this all-consuming sacrificial, unconditional love.

     My prayers for our girls have been steadfast and hopeful since they were born. I prayed consistently over the years for them to find spouses, chosen by God. And my prayers have been fully answered by our loving God. There is hope and overwhelming joy and just a twinge of what? Maybe it’s a tough realization that there is a letting go. The letting go, however, comes with an answered prayer, the fulfilled dream of raising remarkable human beings. My husband and I have realized it twice. The Lord has blessed us richly. The blissful ache of the deepest love, the deepest parts of our souls. It’s what Jesus feels for you, His child. It is an everlasting love.

The Lord appeared to us in the past saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children. Psalm 103:17

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.  1 John 3:1

Father,

Teach us how to lavish Your love onto our children and grandchildren. The love we feel is beyond measure and yet there is no comparison to the way You love us. Teach us how to accept Your perfect love and pass it on generation to generation.

In Jesus name,

Amen