Lizzie Loves Me

“It is not a slight thing when those so fresh from God, love us.”  - Charles Dickens

She is a carbon copy of my daughter; I dare to say they could have been twins.  It catches me off guard at times and I have to look twice.  Sometimes it takes me back twenty years and then that old familiar feeling of loss creeps back in, just when I thought I had let it go.  My daughter is still close, still within arms reach and we have a strong love, but the child she was is what I miss.  God is so good, he knew just what I needed, and he knew I wasn’t quite ready for the empty nest, so he sent me someone to fill the void.  He sent me a little repeat, a sweet, loving child named Elizabeth, my first grandchild.  So caught up in my own circus, I missed out on the first part of the show and didn’t really get to know her until now.  Oh, I was always present, but not engaged and it was not until God brought me to a place of understanding that I realized just what I was missing out on.  As always, he was right. 

We call her Lizzie.  The name Elizabeth is Hebrew and Lizzie is a variant of that.  It means “God’s promise; God is my oath”.  She is God’s promise to me that I will always have that child like love in my life.  When we went to pick her up for the weekend, she was so excited.  My heart was full.  It is good to be loved, and a child’s love is so pure, so real.

That naïve, simple, innocent, authentic, and trusting love is what God wants from us as well.  He longs for us to come to him, as little children, and place our faith and trust in Him for all our needs.  He craves and covets our love, and in return he offers redemption, forgiveness, comfort, and most importantly, eternal life.

“People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” – Mark 10:13-15