Lessons from My 2 Year Old

I just love when the Lord teaches me through Eden's innocence. The other day we were on our way to worship at Brook Hills and Eden had her little pink New Testament Bible with her in the car seat. She was pretending to read it and I said, "Eden, what do your Bible words say?" She proceeded to quote (in toddler fashion), the 2 verses she has memorized, Romans 8:39 (a condensed version) and Genesis 1:1.

After she finished I said, "Do you know what else your Bible says? It says in Ephesians 6:1 that you should obey your parents." I went on to explain what "parents" were by telling her Mommy and Ba-Ba are your parents. She then started pretending to read aloud, "Obey Mommy and Ba-Ba" from her Bible. Then, she added so matter-of-factly, "Because I love them SO MUCH!"

Tears filled my eyes. She often says, "I love you, too." But I'm not sure I've heard her verbally express her love for us so clearly. And she wasn't even talking TO me, she was "reading" from her Bible.

As I pondered her statement I was struck by the symbolism of those words..."Obey Mommy and Ba-Ba because I love them so much." Remember the words of Jesus, "If you love Me, you will obey My commands." Eden was reminding me the Father's heart for obedient children. Not obligation, not fear of punishment, but love. Wow!

I was struck at how our relationship with Eden has been transformed throughout the past year since we came home. In the beginning, Eden tolerated our love, even received love from us, but didn't love us back...she didn't know or trust us yet. But our faithfulness to meet her needs wooed her into a relationship with us. At first, her love for us was built on what she received from us. She loved us because of what we gave her, the blessings she received from us. But as that comment in the van showed me, her love for us has grown from what she receives, into what she can give...obedience. She is now desiring to please us simply because she loves us. How precious!

I believe this is how the Lord desires for our relationship with Him to grow and mature. My hope and prayer is that we, His Church, will grow beyond loving Him because of His gifts, to loving Him for who He is, and expressing that love through obedience to His Word.

This little incident reminded me anew of God's great love for people. You know, when we adopted Eden, we didn't do so just so she could grow up in a nice, middle-class neighborhood and have things she wouldn't have had as an orphan. We adopted her so she could have us, a family, love, and most of all, the Lord Jesus. God was reminding me through Eden, "Keri, I didn't adopt you as My child so you could have things, I adopted you so you could have Me, and so you could share Me with others."

I have learned so much about God's heart through this whole adoption experience. Many times when I haven't known what to do about parenting issues, toddler behavior issues, or attachment/adoption issues, I have said, "Lord, give me wisdom! What do I do?" And He has been so faithful to respond in my heart, "Just treat her the way I have treated you...with love, grace, and discipline." Thank goodness I have access to the true parenting and adoption EXPERT.

On a personal note, we have Eden's 1-year follow-up visit at the International Adoption Clinic tomorrow. We are only seeing the behavioral/attachment specialist to ask a few questions about minor issues with Eden. The main question is how to handle her questions/discussions about her "China mommy." She has been mentioning her quite often lately, even when she is playing and talking to herself.

And, we are going to the beach for 7 whole nights next week with several family members. We'll have TONS of new pictures to post after that. Hope you are all doing well. Carolyn, if you are reading this, please e-mail me your blog address. I can't find it anywhere!

Love,
Keri