Grain of Sand

We welcomed our third granddaughter, Charlotte Faith into the world on April 9th. New life is such a remarkable miracle, especially when it’s your baby having a baby! Seeing those perfect little fingers and toes on this tiny little human as she is added to your family is one of the rare moments that is incomparable. Such an awesome gift.

If you have followed my blog you know my mission statement is to reveal and share the character and unconditional love of God. I was at a service a couple of years ago and the speaker (Kirk McNemar of Difference Makers Church), encouraged us to ask God for a grain of sand moment. Psalm 139:17-18a says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand--” Kirk encouraged us to close our eyes and ask God for one grain of sand moment, which was one thought of God towards us individually that would reveal his love. God graciously gave me three.

Because my default has been to perform in an effort to be pleasing to God, he always reminds me of who he really is, and that all he wants is a sincere heart. As I closed my eyes and asked for my grain of sand moment, he took me back to me as a baby learning to walk. As a parent or grandparent with a child learning to walk, what do we do? We kneel down and smile and encourage the child right? We say things like, “Come on you can do it!” And when they take those first couple of unstable steps and fall down we cheer and clap and laugh! Jesus was my “parent” in this grain of sand moment. He was kneeling down with a huge smile on his face, arms outstretched calling me to come to him, and encouraging me that I could do it. In this moment I wobbled towards him exhilarated, and fell into his arms with a baby grin on my face. Jesus then stood up laughing and twirled around with me in celebration.

The next moment was my wedding day. As I walked down the stairs in my wedding gown, my Father Jesus was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at me with pride and acceptance, telling me how beautiful I looked. It was then Jesus walking me down the aisle to meet my groom, and give me away to be married and start my own family. 

Photo by Jordan Christian

Lastly, was the delivery room as I was giving birth. Jesus was at my shoulder smiling and celebrating and encouraging me with, “You can do it, the baby is almost here!” And as the baby arrives he is cheering, laughing, and celebrating this miraculous moment and dream come true.

I understand this may be a concept that is a bit much for some, but this is Jesus. He is there with us during these moments as well as the tragic moments, whether we recognize it or not. This is the level of closeness he desires to share with us. He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives, celebrating births and weddings, and dreaming families into being. Knowing he was in the operating room as my baby girl delivered her three baby girls by c-section was such a comfort to me. Having this knowledge that Jesus was sitting at her head whispering peace and comfort, and walking over to my son in law doing the same, sharing in their excitement and anticipation brought peace to my heart.

Having my own family has been my greatest dream. As I watch our family grow, I am in awe and I am incredibly grateful. Ashlee and Allen, my daughter and son in law, started their family early and in a less than ideal situation. I’ll be the first to say I didn’t handle it well, and I made it more challenging for them in some ways. Not my intention but nonetheless true. I remember telling Ashlee that I would gladly publicly declare that I was wrong if that ended up being the case, but I didn’t think that would happen. Well...I was WRONG!

I absolutely love and adore my son in law and would not trade him for anyone! They have grown together through the challenges and the blessings and are committed to their marriage and their family. And what a beautiful family they have. We are far from perfect but that’s okay because as 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” We all fail at times, and need grace and forgiveness. I’m thankful for the example Jesus is and that he helps and enables us to do the same.

Take some time to be alone with Jesus and ask him for a grain of sand moment. Do it more than once because as the scripture says, his thoughts about us are as numerous as the grains of sand.