The Love of a Parent

I've heard this from parents my whole life, but now I know how true it is. There is nothing Grant could do right now (or ever) to diminish my love for him. Even after a sleepless night, I find that the frustration and exhaustion are overwhelmingly overpowered by the love I feel for him. I believe that is because the more I serve him, the more I love him. My stake president growing up once said, "Love the verb preceeds love the noun." My coworker, Alan Casper, told me that if that principle of service and love is true, perhaps no child will ever love their parent as much as the parent loved them. But the cycle continues as each generation of parents loves their children more than their own lives, and those children then do the same with their own children. God's love for each of us is so powerful that nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39). I wonder, will I ever be able to love God as much as He loves me? King Benjamin tells us that even if we serve him with everything within us, we will never be able to break even and give Him back as much as He gives us (see Mosiah 2:21). I don't know if I can, but I will try!

I often wonder if God sees us the way we see babies. For example, Grant is constantly crawling under the piano bench and bashing his head against the bottom edge. I do all I can to keep him from it, but he finds a way. Even though he's learning that it hurts to go under there and knows that I told him no, he still does it; and I still want to kiss it better, even though I'm saying, "I told you so!" in the process. I do plenty of stupid things in life, and Heavenly Father knows this, but He still comes to my aid to help me. I'm so thankful for that!

Every day that passes I have the opportunity to become more like Heavenly Father, who is totally and completely dedicated to helping His children fulfill their eternal destinies. Everything He does is for, as we can see in 2 Nephi 26:24: "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world." As I focus on doing everything I can for the eternal benefit of my family, I am walking in His ways and preparing myself for my own eternal destiny.