Loved at My Worst

By Shannon Haddad

Our 3-year-old has recently been entering into a new “threen-ager” phase where she has been experiencing a lot of “big feelings” and very little control over them.

The other day, after my fifth, unsuccessful attempt to fix her dress-up Elsa wig just so on her head, she had a complete and utter meltdown because the wig simply didn’t “feel” right.

I had to admit that I was frustrated because it was such an unreasonable response to something that, in my mind, was no big deal. However, I know that for my daughter, this is a very big deal.

Since I couldn’t think of a way that I could “fix” her problem, I simply held her close until she stopped crying. It was during this moment that I had a glimpse of insight into God’s immense love for us.

If in my small and finite capacity for love I was able to realize that my daughter simply needed her feelings to be validated, then God’s infinite and patient love for us has the capacity to love us even at our worst.

Whereas, in my imperfection I am tempted to turn away from difficulties, God’s perfectly present love gravitates towards the messy in order to redeem it.

This Valentine’s Day, I was reminded of my call to love as God loves and to love my family even at their worst just as God loves me.