All My Lovies

Tonight as the kids were in bed Hannah said "Don't forget my 'stuffy.'  Selah asked for her build-a-bear named Carly, and while I was looking for her I found Joshua's special blanket and stuffed animal. And I started thinking, "You know what? I'm not only responsible for my four children. I am basically the pseudo mom/caregiver for Buddy, Sheepy, Care Bears Covers, Flowers Covers, Doggie, Kitty, Blankie, Carly, and Polka Dot Covers.   They must always be accounted for.  And sometimes I have to "feed" them, wash them, hold them, and carry them around just like they were one of my own.  I don't mind (usually!), because they mean so much to my kids.
 I love how loved they feel when they have all of their "lovies."  Buddy, Sheepy, Doggie, Kitty, and Carly never cease to show love to my kids.  (And yes, I know they are stuffed animals, and can never truly show the kind of love that God can use me to show him) BUT... when I see the way Joshua hugs his blanket and Doggie, I know that the love he feels from them is very real to him.  My desire? To show true, Godly love to those that I love. And trust me, I have a LONG way to go.

Lord, help me to embody true love to my husband, my children, my family, my friends, and all those that may cross my path.  Even when it is so incredibly difficult...

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. 6 It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.... 13 There are three things that will endure -- faith, hope, and love -- and the greatest of these is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:3-7, 13