How Much Do You Love Me?. – Reblogged
My comment:
This is absolutely beautiful! I have watched “Guess How Much I Love You” and I really really love this! How lovely your relationship is with Christ and kids ❤ Keep your faith strong! Beautiful! Just Beautiful!
– Mary
All of our bedrooms were upstairs, my seven year old son’s bedroom, across from mine.
I heard my son slam a toy-bin with something lego-ish in it down on the floor, realizing his sister had “remodeled” his masterpiece while he was at school, and all I saw while folding clothes on my bed was a blurry fuzz-of-a boy charging for the stairs, yelling…
“Ryyyyyyyy-laaaaaaaay!”
When I flew the stairs and rounded the corner to catch up with him because I knew Ryleigh was in the family room, all I saw was Dakota “rushing” her acting like he was going to hurt her, and Ryleigh flenching in fear to an instant hurling scream.
“Dakota, absolutely not,” I said while grabbing an arm and leading him to a seat on the couch. “No way.”
This wasn’t like Dakota’s demeanor at all. As in, at all. I knew this was a learned behavior and sadly I knew exactly where and from whom he had learned it.
Scooping apologies out of the two of them was tougher than scooping a forgotten gallon of rock-hard ice cream, but I was one determined chick.
—–
“God gave you to me to love you… protect you and take care of you… and teach you about Him. Period.”
These words have remained as a foundational rock since they were tiny, and as pre-teens and teens, (did I just type that!?), they are reminded of these words to this day.
They are the words that I pray that they pass on to my grandchildren because timeless scripture stands up on them in a very daily way.
“When we are angry, we do not get to solve our problems physically, ever. As in, ever, because that is not love.”
“Well, she doesn’t love me,” he said, little white leather Nikes hanging over the edge of the brown leather couch, with his tan legs pouring out of his denim shorts.
“Dakota, you wait right here, I’ll be right back.”
This was one of those moments where I didn’t know if I had spoken too soon. I hadn’t seen the tub with his baby-book in it since our last hurried move, so I was counting on it being right where I needed it, when I needed it, or God just let me eat my words.
It was there, right on top.
Possibly the cutest Baby Book I have ever seen… no-no, I take that back; it is by far, titled, “Guess How Much I Love You?”
—–
I will never forget that day, sitting right next to him sharing this book half on his small lap and half on mine.
This was a book all about My Dakota. It had all of the details about him that he was too young to have ever known or remembered, all detailed right there for him to see, cherish, and read. Every square inch of the pages was hand-calligraphied, overspilling the lines to write on.
He was fascinated.
My heart was swollen and full.
Dakota and Ryleigh are only 15 months apart. They were two peas-in-a-pod. They rode in a double stroller side-by-side with more smiles and compliments coming their way than their shy, humbled mama could take, as strangers almost always asked if they were twins when they were toddlers.
When Georgia came along she thought they were the most fascinating twosome she had ever seen. Those two crazies made life from the floor look like it was about ready to get right up and run.
She did.
That very evening Dakota came into my room and told me, “I never knew that you loved me that much.”
Precious… he said, “That’s a whole lotta love.”
The phrase is timeless and is one of my favorites still, ‘Yes, that’s a whole lotta love right there…”
—–
Jesus says to us, “Do you know how much I love you?”
Do you know?
Do your children know?
Do you know that God loved you so stinkin’ very much that He flat gave His absolute only son up to die for you!?
His Bible is all about His love and sacrifice for you. It is all about you.
The living word. Coming alive in new ways, in new aspects, and experiences, and seasons than when you read it before. It lives, and moves, and loves, and “changes” right with you each time you read it.
P.S. The word never ever changes… neater yet, you do; it changes you.
Man, I never noticed that before. Or really, I had never read it quite that way. Or maybe, I have read that one hundreds times before but it didn’t speak to or apply to me until this very day.
His word is exciting because it is all about you and Him.
That whole book is also Jesus’ Baby-Book.
Written just for you.
‘I love you this much… and he spread His arms out wide on a cross to die.’
I love you.
My Life with Christ. 
This is absolutely beautiful! I have watched “Guess How Much I Love You” and I really really love this! How lovely your relationship is with Christ and kids ❤ Keep your faith strong! Beautiful! Just Beautiful!
– Mary