Love Factor

"When did you first fall in love with your kids?"

I encountered this question the other day and stopped to ponder it.

Fall in love? Like I did with my spouse?

Hmmm....

I guess I'd never thought about it those terms, but I was certain I "fell in love" with each of them at birth when our midwife flopped their still-wet bodies up on my chest for me to greet for the first time.

Then another question came into my head: When did I fall out of love with them?

There's no doubt that being a parent can be hard work. Sometimes you end a day in tears of despair, wanting to pound your head against the wall, thinking there is no hope of ever penetrating the thickness of your child's head and heart to get him/her to remember and obey the Important Things.

But being in love with someone means wholeheartedly accepting him for who he is -- warts and all -- recognizing that he is a flawed human with a sinful nature (a "work in progress" if you will) and fiercely loving him despite this. It means giving allowance for said faults and cheering him on to do better next time. It may even mean looking the other way sometimes when a fault begins to bug you, always remembering to forgive as Christ has forgiven you.

It's also recognizing that if that person can love you unabashedly in such a way, who are you to even remotely consider not loving him back in the same way?

It can be tough...but it's so worth it.

Sometimes we forget that kids are just kids. They do things, they think (or unthink) things, they say things just because they are kids. The world is so big and new and exciting/daunting to them. They are moving inwardly and outwardly at 100 m.p.h. sometimes. Their brains (and mouths) are full of the whys and whats and hows of life...sometimes so crowded that they forget the Important Things they were told to say or do or remember.

But you know what?

Somehow -- despite the crowdedness of their brains -- they always seem to remember to give a smile or a hug or a kiss or a cuddle. Somehow -- despite the speed of their metabolism -- they never forget how to love us.

Afterall, isn't that what we felt when we first met them?