Effort

When I was in the hospital and had surgery a couple months ago, my girls came to see me and brought me some "Get Well Soon" type of cards. They had been staying with Amanda, our Children's Minister here at Oakwood, so I'm sure Amanda planted the idea with the girls. As I was presented with these works of art and thoughtfulness, I received this one from Izzy, my then 3 year old:

This picture means a lot to me because it shows Izzy's effort to show love and comfort to her daddy. If you look closely, there are 12 colors that she used in this. Imagine the time that it took her as she picked out each color, each crayon, each marker, each ink pen, and used them to draw and color on the paper. I remember when she handed it to me as I was laying in the hospital bed and she looked with a smile and said, "I made that for you." I didn't even have to ask what it was or what it meant. It meant, I love you, in three year old ways of course. And she was very happy and excited to share it with me.

I believe that God looks at what we bring Him this same way. It might be messy and have a lot of different shades, designs, and colors to it, but He knows that we took the time to make it and bring it to Him. It's the effort that we show that means the most.

That's why you'll find this one in my "keepsakes folder". I love my girls so much. And God loves His kids too!