Love before Biscuits
by Lindsey Hanekom
If you are a Facebook user, like me, you may also like one of their relatively new features, of ‘Time Hop’. This is simply a reminder of what you posted a number of years previously; an event you felt significant enough to share on Facebook. One of those for me recently was when my son (aged three at the time) declared he loved me more than biscuits!
Jump forward five years to today, and he still always comes for his morning cuddle just after waking up. These precious times of being together start our day in a little snuggle of comfort, warmth and encouragement, as words of love flow naturally from my heart. It may only last a minute or two, but they are the most precious moments of the day. He then takes himself off to enjoy his ‘one biscuit, one TV programme’ morning treat.
Our four-year-old daughter, Zoe, has a very different approach to life. She will stumble down the stairs, bleary-eyed and focussed on one thing … her morning biscuit! And then begins the long stream of demands for the day, and the scream of despair if Kyle woke first and is watching his TV programme, because she never gets to watch her programme. And every morning I say the same thing, “Love before biscuit. Come here, and let’s have a cuddle.” Then we have our time together, just as I do with Kyle.
This stark contrast of my children, and the reminder that Kyle declared his love for me to be more than that of biscuits, led me to think of how I begin my day with God. Do I take a minute or two to just be loved, knowing full well all the blessings of God are there for me that day, just as they are every day? Or is my heart so focussed on what He can give me that I begin my day forgetting the most important thing, and making my requests in order to assure myself that all that I want will be given to me?
More importantly, how does God respond to this? When I think of my children, I know I certainly don’t love one more than the other. I just have to guide one in a more appropriate way of living than the other. God’s not angry when we don’t come to Him. His voice is gently saying, “Come here, let’s have some warm and comforting time together before we get on with everything else.”
Maybe God is hoping, as I am with Zoe, that one day we will make that choice to just enjoy His love unreservedly, without Him having to invite us!
Prayer: Father God, I am sorry that I don’t take enough time just enjoying Your deep love and listening to the words of love You have for me. Help me to come and enjoy that warmth and comfort at the beginning of each day. Amen.
Lindsey Hanekom Lindsey has worked at all of our UK centres over the years and has settled at Ellel Scotland with her husband, Johann and their two young children, Kyle and Zoe. As part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Scotland, Lindsey has a heart for the deeply broken as she oversees the prayer ministry and is an established and passionate teacher with Ellel. In her spare time, Lindsey enjoys the natural world, particularly the ocean, and is trained as a specialist medic to assist stranded and injured marine mammals.
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