Today, we celebrate David’s third birthday, and this morning I woke him up just like my mother woke me up on my birthdays – by smudging a little butter on his nose. Andrew, though he had seen me do this many times before and had even personally experienced this odd way of waking up, was confused by this little ritual. He asked me why I did it, and I told him that it’s just what we do. This is something that has been passed down through the generations of my family, and I am sure it originally had something to do with a blessing of prosperity in the coming year. But, as the original meaning has faded throughout the year, this is just the way we show the birthday girl or boy that they are special and that they are loved.
This year as I crept into the kitchen in my pajamas to put a little butter on my index finger, I couldn’t help but think of my mother doing the same thing for me each year. I think I was able to know and understand another facet of my mother’s love for my siblings and for me. I was able to understand how much love and joy went into such a small gesture.
Being a mother brings so much more perspective to my life. I am able to understand and appreciate my own mother more and more. I am able to understand and care for our students and their parents even more. And, I am able to understand more and more about God and about God’s relationship with humanity.
It made me wonder how God celebrates our re-birthdays in heaven. I suspect there is much joy and much love in God’s heart. Like a child who seeks the love and affirmation brought on by pleasing her mother and father, knowing God’s love for us and joy over the days of our own spiritual re-birth and decision to follow Christ should lead us to want to do more and more to love and serve God. In serving God, I imagine that we bring joy to God’s heart and a beaming smile of parental pride to God’s face.
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