Hey, Siestas! It’s Saturday morning and I’m at AJ’s having so much fun. I flew up yesterday afternoon so that Jackson and I could have a date last night. We made Mommy and Daddy go to the movies. He and I are watching Wonder Pets so I’m going to see if I can drop you a note really quickly while he’s preoccupied.
Something so fun has happened in the last few weeks. Jackson has discovered words and he says everything under the sun. (He can say Bible and knows what he’s talking about! Oh, the joy!)In the midst of an exploding vocabulary, he’s started calling me a name! Yahoo-Jah!!!!! (He named Keith first – PawPaw – and I may never hear the end of that.) I think my granny name is going to evolve into “BeeBee” but right now it’s more like “Bibby” with a big accent on the second syllable. So darling I can hardly stand it. His little lips make the cutest shape when he says it. (He’s saying it right now. I think I’m on borrowed time. Writing fast. If I have a ton of type-o’s, you’ll know why.)
So, anyway, last night after I rocked him a long while, laid him in his crib, covered him with his blanket, and slipped out of the room, he stood straight up in the bed and started calling, “BibbEE!! BibbEE! BibbEE!” He never cried. He just called me over and over. Too much to resist! It was everything I could do not to go get him. I kept thinking to myself, if I give in to this, I’m going to ruin that darling child’s good bedtime habits. He’s a very active little guy and the fact that he’s been easy to put to bed at night has been AJ’s saving grace. I paced outside his door nearly laughing out loud, saying, “Oh, my word! Oh, my word!” and wishing I had someone to call so they could hear it. Keith was out of town and cell range so I texted Melissa back and forth for the next thirty minutes to keep the little dude from hearing me. He finally went to sleep and I like to think he dreamed of a fun next day with BeeBee. I woke up really early and could hardly wait until he’d start the name-calling up again and I could go in and get him. And sure enough. (OK, well, actually, it began with a few seconds of Daddy and Mommy but I beat AJ to the nursery door and when I opened it, he said, “BibbEE!!”)
Try to stay on track with me here. Between a toddler crawling on me and giggling, Noggin going strong on the television (don’t even try talking to me about not letting a child watch a little Saturday morning TV) and Beckham barking outside, I’m having a little bout of ADD. Oops. Just got a beach ball in the head. On borrowed time here. Run fast with me. So, last night I just all at once had this revelation. You young moms have already thought it a thousand times and I’m sure I did, too, twenty-five years ago but one of the beautiful things about time is that you get to relearn things as if they’ve never occurred to you before. It hit me how much God loves for us to call Him by Name and that, when we cry out to Him with titles that have become such meaningful endearments to us – such expressions of relationship, those cries are utterly irresistible to Him. Sometimes, because He knows what we need more than we do, it may seem He’s not responding but, in reality, He’s right on the other side of that door greatly moved. And timing His obvious entrance just right.
Simple truth this morning. God LOVES to hear you call Him by Name. A Name that MEANS something to you. A term of deep endearment. When the spirit within you cries out, “Abba, Father!” your voice is irresistible to Him. If you’ll permit this English teacher a double-negative, God never DOESN’T respond. You may not see Him right away but He will be right next to you all along. He hears you and He WILL act at exactly the right time. Somehow it was profound to me. We – fretful, inconsistent children weak in our natural selves – MOVE THE HEART OF GOD. Because that’s the Way He wanted it. Every single time we cry out. Every single time we use His Name and mean it. We are heard. His heart teems with affection and His retraint demands His own long suffering. Take heart!
“Those who know Your Name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.” Psalm 9:10
I so love loving Jesus with you.
