“I Miss You!”

“I Miss You!”

Our eldest daughter is, hands down, the most affectionate child I’ve ever known. If my husband and I are cuddling on the couch, she is not content until she’s dropped everything and sprawled herself across the pile. If we’re hugging in the kitchen, she works herself between us and smiles, her little face framed by our legs.

She also says, “I love you!” at the drop of a hat. It is not rare to hear this declaration up to ten times a day, and she’d only been in kindergarten for a few weeks when she began telling her teacher she loved her on a regular basis.

Recently, she’s also started saying, “I miss you!” The only thing is she usually says this while we’re standing right there.

The other night, our daughter went up to my husband and said, “Guess what?”

He said, “What?”

She grinned, knowing the punchline. “I miss you!”

My husband already knew the punchline, too. He spread his arms and cried, “YOU MISS ME?!” He clutched her against his chest and said, “Oh, Sweetheart! I’m so touched!”

Our daughter giggled and giggled and said, “I want to do it again!”

So, of course, he obliged.

Our daughter stood back and said, “Guess what?”

And he said, “What?”

“I miss you!”

Again, he spread his arms, and she ran into them, giggling so hard she almost fell over.

They probably did this half a dozen times. Our second daughter soon joined in, and a giggle fest ensued for ten solid minutes.

These are the moments I tuck into the pockets of my memory, so I can pull them out and turn them over, replaying them in my mind once these little giggly girls have become women who have ushered into the world giggly children of their own.

Later, though, this image changed. I imagined myself as that little girl, and Abba, my heavenly father, taking my husband’s place. I imagined myself running up to Him, not the least bit shy, and declaring, “I miss you!” and Abba dropping everything just to spread His arms and cry, “YOU MISS ME?! Oh, Jolina! I’m so touched!”

And then I pictured myself running into His outstretched arms, giggling and laughing while so thoroughly enamored that, out of all of His children, He has chosen me to love.

If you can’t place yourself in those outstretched arms, take a moment to ask yourself why. We are told to have faith like a child. That the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these, and yet our rational adult minds sometimes prevent us from flinging ourselves into His arms and reveling in the fact that He loves us, His cherished daughters and sons.

I’m telling you, this perspective is changing my life and makes me only want to love Him more because I am confident of His love for me. I feel like only now, at thirty-one, am I beginning to understand. That understanding makes me want to drop whatever I’m doing and run up to Him and say, “I miss you!”

And He’ll throw His arms around me and say, “You miss me?! Oh, my daughter! I’m so touched!”

Let your heavenly father love on you today.

That love can transform your life.