Kissing Mommy's Tummy

The beaming face looked up from its basic morning fare of Islandberry Crunch® and orange juice and announced, “I kissed mommy on the tummy.”

My dear wife has had abdominal discomfort for the last 12 hours or so, and her three year old physician couldn’t have been more delighted to help. Now, I know that you’re thinking that it’s cute, but kissing doesn’t really make anything better, but you couldn’t be more wrong. A kiss from those dear little lips immediately removes half the pain of whatever ails mother, or father, or brother.

In fact, this is one of the lessons that rushed through my mind: this is often how God deals with me in the midst of discomfort. He loves me too much to remove the pain and the benefit to my good and His glory that it brings. But, when I cast my cares upon Him, I find that something akin to a kiss from my Savior has lightened more than half the load, without removing any of the problem.

Then there was the lesson of my daughter’s delight. You see, for her three short years on earth, Kessedi has had to be on the receiving end of mommy’s service, with little to do in return. Whenever she has an opportunity to return in kind some service, some demonstration of affection, some obedience… she seizes the opportunity with joyous alacrity.

Now, however small Kessedi’s service to her mother might have been, our service to God cannot help but be smaller. After all, His complete self-sufficiency corresponds perfectly to our inability to do anything of value in which He is not sustaining us anyway.

When we look at the cross—how the Father gave the Son, and the Son offered Himself up, and the Spirit sustained the Son in His human nature—how the entire Godhead gave itself for us, that the Son might pour out His blood for the propitiation of the wrath that we so completely deserved… when we consider what our Lord has done for us, do we not yearn to return to Him some demonstration of love and gratitude?

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” and “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Considering the cross and responding to it—that is love. But who of us has anything to offer God?

That’s why I’m glad for the law in the way my daughter is glad for mommy’s tummy to hurt. Because it offers me an opportunity to return love to my Savior. If He hadn’t said, “this is what I desire,” I could have nothing to offer; but, when He gives me specific things that I can do to demonstrate love for Him, I must respond with the same joyous alacrity of my three year old daughter…

kissing mommy’s tummy

Photo Update

Photos have been updated over at our Family Album.

Kesseday Review

We had a fantastic day, from opening festivities, to a fun shopping trip (going to Wal-Mart is a highly prized errand; don't you wish you could be 3 again?), and a festive lunch (these kids love fruit!), the day proceeded to a supper of ribs, chicken, and fish at MJ's (Nelsons in attendance; sides included a fantastic potato salad, perfect tossed salad, Tony's famous beans; and, MJ baked 3 kinds of pie).

Of course, no trip to MJ's is complete without a visit with his crazy little puppy, lonely parrots, and fuzzy rabbits. The best part, of course, was spending a delightful evening with believers. When people gather together and each is genuinely interested in every other person's true enjoyment, it makes for a blessed time indeed. Amen to Psalm 133!

By God's grace, our two and three year old happily submitted themselves to an extra afternoon nap of a couple hours, which enabled us to have clear consciences as we continued the day's activities long past ordinary bed time. From MJ's we went to an open air concert of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra on the Mississippi River, which was followed by a fantastic fireworks display right above our heads.

Even though congested traffic led to a 10:45p arrival time at home, we were still able to have family worship when we got home: a blessed end to a blessed day.

Oh--and it was the country's birthday or something too.

Photos available here.

Kessedi Appreciation Day

Whereas God in His infinite mercy has blessed us with a daughter, who by His grace loves and obeys both Him and us, and

Whereas He has made this daughter dearer to us than our own lives, and

Whereas He has made her pleasure more to be desired than our own, and

Whereas she has recently indicated her desire to attain to the age of four years, and

Whereas upon further investigation it is our determination that this desire is chiefly motivated by a desire to enjoy the festivities related to such an attainment, and

Whereas her mother's otherwise miserly employers have allowed a holiday for Independence Day, the fourth day of July in the year of our Lord, two thousand six,

Therefore be it resolved that the fourth day of July in the year of our Lord, two thousand six, is hereby designated Kessedi Appreciation Day throughout our entire domain, and

Let it be further resolved that said day shall include whatsoever festivities as do ordinarily accompany a birthday celebration, and

Let it be finally resolved that such days shall be designated in the future, in honor of either the above mentioned daughter, or the heretofore unmentioned son, or any other such children as with whom God shall be pleased to bless us, as designations we deem appropriate and convenient,

To which we witness by affixing our electronic signatures on this third day of July in the year of our Lord, two thousand six:

James Hakim
Heather Hakim