Dear Little Monkey,
Yesterday while mommy was shopping I overheard something from another momma in the grocery store. As I passed by her cart the little guy in the seat, maybe 4 or 5, was attempting (and from the looks of it succeeding) to stand up and make a jump for his freedom.
"Carson! Sit down!"
Carson had apparently been a handful today and as I browsed the many sliced cheese options he hurumphed his displeasure and started to throw what I can only assume would have been a Class A tantrum. Before he could get his lungs filled up for a scream his mother caught him by the arm, bent her mouth close to his ear, quieted her voice but still said loudly enough for me to hear...
"Remember what you learned Sunday?"
Carson was immediately defeated. He slumped back still and muttered, "I have to be good."
"That's right." Mom agreed. "And why do you need to be good."
What the little guy said next broke my heart. I was honestly expecting something like, "Because Christmas is coming." Or "I'll get in trouble if I don't." but what he said was...
"So that Jesus will like me."
Wait, what? No.
No! No. No. No. No!
My sweet little monkey. Your daddy and I are already planning to teach you about Jesus. We're going to be taking you to church and we want you to learn about all kinds of amazing things our God has done before and what He can still do now.
One thing we will teach you is how much Jesus loves you. How much He likes you and how much He wants what is best for you. We'll teach (and show) you that since we know Jesus loves us we want to honor Him, obey Him and treat Him like our King.
I know that can get confusing. I had it backwards for a long time myself. (And my daddy is a preacher!) But we never do anything SO THAT Jesus will like us. He already likes us. He likes you way more than mommy and daddy like you. (And we like you to the moon and back!) He likes you when you are being a good little monkey and He likes you just the same when you are being a bad little monkey.
I know it will take some time before you can understand all that, but I just want to always be clear, starting from day T-27Weeks, Jesus already likes you. You can't be bad enough for Him to like (or love) you any less, and you can't be good enough for Him to like (or love) you anymore than He already does.
Never forget that.
Love,
Mommy
