I lub you, Mommy

“I lub you, Mommy.”

There is power in those words when my little boys say them to me.  When those words come out of their mouths, they can make me forget the morning messes, the toddler impulsiveness, or the all-boy play that can quickly escalate into an injury before 7:00 in the morning.

These are the words that I get to hear first thing every morning, before the sun comes up, from my rambunctious, bright-eyed, little guy.  He greets me every morning with a big hug and those four precious words, and then he takes off running like a ball of energy until his head finds his pillow once again. 

As soon as those words are spoken, my other little guy slowly makes his way to me, only awake because his brother does not know how to be quiet when others are trying to sleep.  He pipes in with an “I love you too, Mommy”.  He speaks this with a big grin on his face, in a higher pitched voice than his brother’s, and an emphasis on the “too”.  For the second time in my very early morning, my tired eyes are momentarily overtaken by my melted heart.   These moments are short-lived, I assure you, as spilt milk and twin bickering inevitably occur in the first twenty minutes of my day.  Nonetheless, the melt-my-heart moments make all of the mundane-mom moments worth it.

As my day goes on, I will randomly hear more “I lub you’s” and “I love you too’s” from my two little guys, for no other reason than I am there mom and they are my babies.  It’s a beautiful thing really, these two year old “I lub you’s”.  If I could bottle those words up, spoken just like I hear them everyday, I absolutely would!  For all too soon the “I lub you, Mommy” will turn into “I love you, Mom”.  

For this reason, I’m trying to soak up all of the two year old boy-love that I can get these days!  May I never forget how sweet and innocent those words sound to me when spoken from the mouths of my babies.  May I never forget that when I am having a bad day, those words can change my day.  May I never forget when I am feeling a little unloved, those words remind me that I am very loved.  And may I never forget that as great as the love is between a Mama and her baby, the love of God is even greater!

So tonight as I’m cherishing the “I lub you’s”, I’m taking comfort in the unconditional love I have for my babies, knowing that I too am unconditionally loved by Heavenly Father.  Such a comforting thought to ponder on as I put my kiddos to bed tonight.  May it be a comfort to you too, dear friend, knowing that the love of God is an unconditional, sacrificial, life-giving love for all to receive.