the heart of a parent.

here i am: a Jesus loving 22 year old female and a mother: to the strongest willed little toddler i know. he teaches me to see true joy in this sometimes scary.fear-filled world. the pure fact that he can praise our amazing God for giving him buzz lightyear and .deeply. pray for a restful night sleep for a plastic action figure is more inspiring than any "grown up" lesson on how.to.pray. the fact he knows that if he cries out for simply.anything... he will get it. the result of me violating every parenting book.rule.judgment? yes. but also the heart that God.ourparent has for us. yes. He will protect us from us hurting ourselves. but what if we cried out for everything  that comes our way in life? not because we want the new best toy.the "if only i had... {you fill in your blank}... but bc we want our God to be the center of our desires.our heart to God-filled and full.{no spaces}. i am admitting that my heart will break when.if my little one finally realizes he can do it all by himself. when he wont need me. so... i treasure{need to treasure}the fact that he.asks.me. and although that slightly whiny voice can pinch a nerve from moment.to.moment.. what if it stopped? and those words were replaced with confidence. "mom, i dont need you anymore." {there's that feeling of brokenness in my heart again} i think of God's promises.statements.etc. about how He cries when we cry. He even collects {all} of them in a tear filled jar. how He protects us. how He wants to fulfill our desires...that He Himself put in our heart purposefully. how even though it breaks His heart when we mess up... He still loves us deeply. and although we may have to have consequences for that mess up...He still forgives us if we ask for it. sound like that umpteen timed time-out yesterday for your little one? He wants to teach.show us how we can prevent that "naughty spot" next time for ourselves. He doesnt want us to live on that hard-wooden bench. He wants us to listen with our hearts to what He can show us. those precious moments in the wooden rocker with a storybook and your little one wrapped snuggly in your arms.teaching them about upcoming life struggles depicted softly with children's stories with old mother hubburd and jack and jill.learning the "easy way".prevention... rather than treating symptoms. so easy... then they fall fast asleep.{so precious}. is God like our parent? yes. He says He's our Father. and not an "earthly one" many of us reference negatively. no. He's similar to the one across the street throwing a baseball to his son that we wished were our own. now He is yours... only better.much better.and one that doesn't have an ounce of disappointment or unfilled promises. and He has a heart especially for...his children.us. He designed.created.and made us wonderfully in His {really perfect} image and He knows us {inside and out}. with all of hurts.flaws.and scars going through life has brought... but still loves us.deeply.very deeply.