This week, I learned a valuable lesson, taught to me by a five-year-old little girl who possesses a heart of pure gold. Yes, I am biased. She's one of my little princesses. But this week, that little angel made her daddy stop and realize what is really important in life.
I am a pastor. I am an author. I am pursuing my Master's Degree to make me a better pastor and working hard to become a better writer. I am a husband and father, a son and a brother. In the course of a week, I switch gears constantly, trying to achieve the next thing set before me and set an example for the ones who look to me. As Sunday night wound down, fighting the mental exhaustion of another week, I sat at the computer trying to write a paper for class. That's when it happened.
My daughter asked me, "Daddy, what happens if you don't finish your paper tonight?". I said that I would get a failing grade, but she didn't understand what that meant. So, I thought for a minute about how to explain it to where she would understand the importance of me finishing my assignment. I told her, "You know how you get a sticker when you do good on your schoolwork? Well, if Daddy doesn't get this turned in on time, he won't get his sticker."
She was behind me, so I could not see her face when I said those words. I focused on the papers in front of me, ensuring I would fulfill the requirements of the professor and in turn, keep a GPA that was without blemish. For some reason, in each stage of life, I find myself trying to prove to the world and to other people that I am indeed enough. A minute or two later, a little hand appeared and a heart-shaped sticker had been applied to my shirt from a 5-year-old, her way of telling me that I am enough for her.
I nearly cried. The rigors of life are tough for all of us. We strive to be something in this world and do all that we can to make a difference in the life of someone else. We long to hear the words, "You are enough" but are often faced with little acknowledgement of what has been done and an immediate response of the next thing we must accomplish. Before long, we are overwhelmed as the requests just keep coming, the demands just keep mounting. Then, in a moment of utter exhaustion and weakness, someone says, "You are enough for me".
As Christians, the Bible is such a sticker sent to us by the Lord, the very One who created us. It is the reminder that we were important enough to God that He would send His Son to die for us. You want a verse that tells you such a fact? Here goes - "But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 HCSB) As mentioned in the verse - we were broken, separated and decimated by sin, yet God said we were enough to send His Son to the cross to die for us. His love is proven by the cross. As we look at the cross, it screams out to us that God loves us so much. The world may tell you that you are not enough, but the cross says that you are.
I keep that sticker in my wallet now to remind me that, though I may not be what everyone else in the world wants me to be, to my little girl I am enough. I keep my Bible with me as a constant reminder that the Lord says I am enough. I keep a tiny wooden cross in my pocket to remind me that the love of God is more than enough for me.
