Do your children ever whine? The
other day I sent my daughter to her room for this very reason. When I came to
talk to her about it afterwards I found her crying. I gave her a big hug and
snuggled up with her. Through her tears she sniffed, "I'm sorry, Mom."
I told her I forgave her and that she was still a good girl. She countered by
saying she wasn't. Her little heart was breaking over the tiniest of mistakes,
thinking she wasn't good. The ridiculousness of that thought struck me hard.
How could a near-perfect child think she isn't good?
I then offered a silent prayer
for help in not being too hard on my sweet, sensitive girl. I would hate for
her to think she wasn't good because I something I said or did. And then a
thought came to me as I evaluated my child's personality. She is one who
sincerely wants to do everything right—always. A perfectionist to the core. She
reminded me of myself when I was a child. One of the hardest things I have had
to learn, and am still learning, throughout my life is to accept imperfections
over and over and over.
My daughter hugged me tight as
I stroked her hair and expressed to her all the many reasons she is good and
all the many reasons I am proud of her and the many, many ways she brings
incredible joy to our family. Her Father in Heaven knows all of these things
too. But the most important thing, I explained, is that I will love her no
matter what. There is nothing in the world she could do to keep me from loving
her with all my heart. It didn't matter how many mistakes she made I would still
love her, nor would her choices affect my love. This is how her Heavenly Father
and her Savior, Jesus Christ feel about her too, I told her. They will always
love her.
It was one of the most tender
of tender moments with my child—when I remembered that not much else in the
world matters besides this very precious girl.
Upon further reflection, I
realized that God must feel this way about me too, but even more so. He loves
me regardless of how many times I mess up. He loves me no matter my struggles. And
perhaps, He might even feel that some of my mistakes are not as grievous as I
feel them to be. It is through Him and His Atonement that can help me
continually improve and progress towards eternal life. How grateful I am to my
God and his infinite and unconditional love for me and my children alike.
~Your Friend, Hope, a Christian blogger
*Public domain photo from here