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Every Little Thing by April Jeppson

My sweet daughter told me that she didn’t want to go to kids camp one day this week. She said she had a stomachache. The way she approached me, made me think that perhaps she wasn’t actually sick at all. I sat her down a bit later and asked if she really had a tummyache, or if she just didn’t want to go. I then told her that I would let her stay home even if she wasn’t sick, but I just needed to know the truth. Almost immediately she began to sob.

She wasn’t sick, she just didn’t want to go. She had said something to someone, thinking they would keep it a secret. That person went on to tell someone else. My daughter was fearful that the whole camp knew what she had said. (She later told me what the secret was, and as an adult I had to hold back a smile. It was something so minor and insignificant that I literally breathed a sigh of relief. However, to her little 10-year-old mind, it was almost too much to bear.)

We talked and we hugged and we cried. I told her stories of how I had been embarrassed. How I told my friend a secret and she ran off and told the very boy that the secret was about. How I said something not nice about someone and they were in the next room and they heard me. I opened up about times when I had done something wrong and others found out. I shared with her how dumb and embarrassed I felt. I also explained how each one of these times, I learned something.

They say if you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t learning. Well let me tell you — I’m learning daily. I could see her face soften and the anxiety slowly leave her body as we talked. Knowing that other people had felt what she was feeling, it gave her comfort. Knowing that her father and I would still love her no matter what, gave her peace. I must have told her I loved her 15 times that day. I needed her to know that nothing she did or said would ever change that.

It reminded me again of the parallels between our Heavenly Father’s love for us, and parenting when I think of how much I love my children — when I realize that there is nothing they could ever do to make me love them less. Sure, I might be disappointed with a choice they make or sad about something they did. But love them less? No.

Whatever love my human body is capable of feeling, God’s love is so much greater. How amazing is that? To know there is nothing I can say or do that will lessen his love for me. He will always be there for me, just as I will always be there for my children. This thought provides me with so much comfort and peace. When I just don’t want to go to work or get out of bed because life seems too heavy, I know that he will help me through. The best part? He is eagerly waiting to help you too. 

Albert Lean April Jeppson is a wife, mom, coach and encourager of dreams. Her column appears every Saturday.