Isabella is 5-years-old, with spunky white-blonde curles, and the personality to match. Izzie boldly approaches us with her request, be it rude demands some days, with not a care in the world. No doubt in her mind that Of Course we would want to give her the desires of her bubbly heart. She knows she’s loved.
This is the same girl who doesn’t think twice about if children would want to play with her at any given second. She’ll easily march up to children in a play-place or park and begin a game; no need for names while other children slowly and methodically wonder, choosing exactly who they think will allow them to play alongside them and eventually engage with.
On a particular day that her expectations rubbed me the wrong way I realized somthing. Why wouldn’t we be awaiting Izzie’s requests? Why wouldn’t all other children want to play with her?! She IS a child of the One True King; priced and protected.
You see, my eldest daughter Maggie loves Jesus with all her heart. She’s chasing after Him as fast as her little heart knows how. I think our brains work very similar and I can totally see my younger self in her. I understand how she sees things most of the time and her motive in certain desires.
Izzie, my middle daughter... She doesn’t love Jesus the way I love Jesus. And that’s a beautiful thing! I’m learning so much about the heart of my Jesus, how He loves me through, and how we are to love Jesus wants us to love Him, all through her. My favorite thing I’ve learned from about Christ through my Izzie Ru is how God truly wants to give us good gifts.
I’m not completely sold on this idea most days. You know, being the evil little twit that I am, deserving nothing. But Iz doesn’t see it that way. She knows the depth of His love and sees past the insecurity of once being a lost little sinner with an evil heart. She sees straight to how He sees us after His blood washed away the stank stains of sinful garbage in our lives.
The insecurity satan has bottled up in me keeps me captive in people-pleasing. I am sure that I miss opportunities all the time under the guise of “they wouldn’t wanna,” “I sure they don’t like me.” Half of you right now are resonating with those thoughts and the other half of you are thinking, “You have issues.” Don’t get me wrong, I think there are Christ-like qualities in both, modesty and confidence.
But in these instances, I want to live in the self-assurance [through Christ] that Princess Isabella of Heaven has as she lives out her God-given forgiveness. I am so so thankful she doesn’t love Jesus like I do. I pray for her boldness to stay strong as she learned about following Jesus and that I never hinder her gift of tenacity!
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