I have LOTS of affectionate names for my little loves…and my big love too.  Each of them has a long, official name…you know…names that will sound very prestigious in the event they are ever elected to be the President of the United States, the CEO of a major corporation or the pastor of a church.  We never know the path God has for our children….naming them is a huge responsibility!  Each of their names, just like ours, are also able to be (and are quite often) shortened to nick names…Em, Max and Jack.  Then there are the names that sort of just come out over time.  The Max-factor, Maxamillion and Maximus…the Jack Attack, Jackeroo, Hungry Jack, and Emers, M&M and Emy-Liz.  To Nathan, Em is his sweet pea…the boys his partners.  Em is my chica and my sweets and my boys my buddy bears…my little men.  Jackson being the youngest is affectionately our small fry.  Emalynn reigning as the only girl is crowned our princess and Maxwell…there is no denying he is handsome.  These being just a few, there are countless other names we have for our kids…but all in all they express how much we love and care for these precious blessings.

Given all of the loving names we call our children…sometimes I don’t stop to think about the names I call myself.  Many can be of the unkind nature…things that are untrue.  As children we were taught to be nice to others…but, I wonder…were we taught to be nice to ourselves?  I have said and believed of myself…stupid…ugly…fat!  Or…trying to measure up to…I’m not sure to what exactly…If I were just a few inches taller! As a child of God…how does that make Him feel?  As I shared yesterday, God brought me to Psalm 139.  A brand new baby was added to our extended family and he is a healthy and beautiful 7 pound, 7 ounce bundle of A-DORABLE perfection!  God is so good!  The gift of life is simply breathtaking!  When I read this Psalm it always reminds me how God sovereignly and uniquely created each and every human being and of His grace in my own life.  Then in the next breath I turn around and question Him in the details!?  Who am I to demand a few more inches?  Who am I to dislike the strawberry birthmark next to my nose?  Doesn’t that tell the Maker of heaven and earth that He screwed up when He made me?  How dare I!

Do you ever think about what God affectionately calls you?  I do…and it brings me to my knees.  When I see words like chosen…adopted…forgiven…free.  When God tells me…you are Mine…in the presence of His amazing love all of those lies just vanish.  When we speak to our children we would never want to say things that discourage them or make them believe something that is untrue.  God doesn’t want us to do that to ourselves either.  Listen to what HE has to say about you.  Believe HIM!  I have an entire list of lies I believed about myself for far too long and do you know what I did?  I made a list of what God says about Himself to prove who I am in scripture refuting every single one.  Whenever I start to question who I am…I pull out that list of His terms of endearment and remember the Truth.

The next time you call your little love….or big one…your sweetie…honey…baby…think about how the Lord sees you…and choose to believe Him, friend.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love  he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—  to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.  Ephesians 1:3-10