There is just no substitute for the love of a parent. All kids seem to express this love and receive this love differently and I don’t know if any kid expresses it quite so openly as my Daniel. The other day he saw me putting on my socks and shoes and he preemptively ran to the garage to keep me from leaving without him. If he needs a hug he runs up to me and yells, “Hold you!!” And just about every morning I wake up to his face at the side of my bed with a big grin and arms outstretched. I love this boy.
So it was VERY tough to leave him and our other two kids with my parents for ten days while Brian and I were on a trip together. Josh and our foster daughter did just great, but my mom said every day Danny would push a chair up to their front window and call for Mommy. She even took a picture of him. It both broke my heart and made me love him all the more. And it made me think of heaven.
I know my boy missed me and things were just a little off and different while I was gone. It had nothing to do with the great care of my parents who were totally up for this challenge. They raised five kids of their own and I know for a fact that at least one of them was quite a trouble maker. In spite of how much he loves his grandparents, little Danny just wanted his parents and wanted to be home. How many times when things are going well do I think about my longing for heaven? It takes the hard times, the lonely times to make me push my chair up to the window and call for my God. Heaven has never been more real to me than during my grief over the losses of my two children through ectopic pregnancies. Heaven became a place where the souls of my babies know only love and peace and the tender care of their Savior. And I long to be there. As hard as those losses were, I thank God that He has given me a little extra incentive to live this life well so I can meet my Redeemer face to face and hold those children again. And in the meantime, I am also thankful I get to enjoy the love of three precious kids God entrusted to my care.