Snuggle Up
Norah, my four-year-old daughter, has now been in junior kindergarten since the new school year. It’s been so much fun watching her develop and grow. From writing her name to drawing to now reading her first book, it blows me away how quickly she can pick things up with such joy. One of the programs I love to be a part of is “snuggle up” book homework. Every day, Ms. C. will provide each child with a book of their choice to bring home and read with their parent. The whole idea is that the child gets to grow in their reading comprehension, and as the name implies, the parent “snuggles up” with the kid. Often this happens before bed, sometimes a quick read while putting on our boots just before heading off to school because we forget (or just don’t have it together).
I’ve been reflecting on how sweet this is. How she gets so much out of it. She looks forward to it every day. Sometimes the books she picks aren’t great. At all. But it’s less about the content and more about the time together. As Christians, when we reflect on our relationship with God, we often see things from our perspective. Like Norah, we enjoy the privilege of coming before our Father in heaven. Since Christ has given us His righteousness, we are now adopted sons and daughters of God. We can now enjoy the intimate presence, “snuggled up” to our Father, who loves us. His embrace, warmth, and presence fill us with joy.
What we may not do as often is imagine what our Father in heaven enjoys about us as His children. I love reading with Norah, my sweet girl. To have her sit on my lap, sometimes cuddled up like a little kitten, is too sweet to handle. Those moments are precious to me. I look forward to them, no matter how long the day has been. As much as she is eager for my attention, I am eager for hers. I know these moments are fleeting; one day, dad won’t be so cool anymore. One day she’ll be too big for her to snuggle up. So, I cherish every minute, every second, and every time I get to do this. I wonder if this is why God saves us from our sin so that He can have these moments with us for eternity. In the many things I feel, I can’t help but think that this is a glimpse of God’s heart for us.
As an encouragement to you. Snuggle up to the Father. Make time; don’t neglect those moments. You are a child of God, and He cares and even yearns for time with you.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1