Different is good

Friday when I took the girls school shopping, we went out to eat first. I found myself stumbling again to explain to a preschooler why some people don't have arms/legs/what have you like the rest of us. The best I could manage in the moment was that God made each of us different, but He loves us the same.

I don't agree with myself, the more I think about it. I don't think He does love each of us the same. I love that.

I feel like being a parent has given me another view of God. Lessons I personally wouldn't have learned otherwise. I don't think I love my children the same. I love them differently. I love them for their uniqueness. It's not like each child comes packaged with a bottle of parental love. I love each of these girls for the little people they are, and somehow feel like the love just gets bigger as they do.

So it stands to reason that maybe God loves each of us differently too. He loves us for who we are -- not even who we pretend to be. When I went to college, I ended up hanging around these people that had an amazing peace about them. It was the peace of Christ. Something I needed in my own life. But now it occurs to me that God put those people in my path so I could see it. He chose that time and those people.

I don't want that to sound like it's all about me, me, me. I just want to point out that that's how personal I think God is. That's much he cares for each one of us, as individuals.

Everybody has their own story, full of details we can't even name. In To Own a Dragon, Donald Miller talks about going on a nature photo shoot with his mentor, John. How they climbed through the forest & mountain terrain for a shot of the sunrise. If I remember right, they get up prior to dawn, and when they get there it's amazing. But John doesn't get the shot. "That one was just for us." Every once and a while I'm remembering that.

On an early morning walk with the sun over the lake -- what if this view is just for me? What if this moment at this canyon is a gift to me? And, yeah, maybe these shoes on sale is for me. This one I know was for me:

Me: "Honey, God just made her a little differently. Like you have blond hair and somebody else has brown. Her legs are different. Doctors made her special legs so she can walk around like you do."
Natalie: "Oh Mommy, I think her built legs are beautiful..."