“And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.”                          1 John 4:16          

Sometimes pictures reveal more to our hearts than they do to our eyes. I found this to be very true last week, when our oldest smiled over and over again for her senior pictures. I tried to stay out of the way and let our friend do what she does best. When you are not the one behind the camera, you do not know exactly what was captured. I knew from experience that we would be blown away by how well these images turned out. What I did not expect was the picture taken at the end of the day. I was hot and had not planned on being photographed. You do a bit more when the camera is aimed at you. However, I am so thankful for a picture with my girl. She is moving from being a teenager with a parent/child relationship into one of friend. It is an incredible blessing.

After the photo shoot, we hurried home and I met a group of younger moms that come over once a month to talk and pray. If there is anything I try and communicate to them is the importance of being in God’s word. You can not give what you do not have. If you want to give your family Him, be in His word. So much pressure is taken off when it is Him and His wisdom you are living from. We laughed a lot as a group and prayed about hard things. I am so thankful for each of these girls. What a privilege to take what has been learned and share. Mistakes seem to be redeemed when you can warn others not to follow your example. It is also encouraging to see that despite my sin, God works wonders in our children.

Just a few days ago, this oldest child, her dad and I were on our way to a potential college informational meeting. We talked about lots of things and again laughed a lot. Somewhere along the way, she asked how much housekeepers get paid. We told her what we use to pay for our home to be cleaned. Now we do it as a family. Put music on really loud and it becomes not so boring and the time goes by quickly. She thought maybe she could clean a house or two as a job in college. I was shocked at her humility. When I was her age, this would have never crossed my mind because I lived to be served. She has a heart to serve. When we got to the meeting, the admissions guy was talking about the kind of students they are looking for at this particular college. He said they do look at test scores and GPA, but what they were after were students that showed servant leadership. They want kids who know the heart of Jesus and live by His example. This made me smile.

I got a beautiful glimpse of the love of God for us this week. Time and time again I was reminded that God is believable and His love is quite amazing. One look at my husband, our kids or when I listen to the words they say, I am reminded that God loves me. He took a girl who was not very lovable and moved into my heart and has done a mighty work. I pray the work He has done and continues to do, will be passed down from generation to generation. My prayer for our family is, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him. This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey His commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. And His commands are not a burden, because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.” (1 John 5:1-4). May our family be strong in following God’s commands, beautiful servants, known for love and conquering faith as we all continue to grow up in the image of Him.