I am not a parent; I’m an aunt. And I can’t get enough of my nephew. I just
love that kid. Seeing him makes me smile and causes my heart to erupt with
love and joy. Even just talking about him makes me smile.

Yesterday, he comes into the sanctuary during my dad’s sermon. My dad is his
grandpa. “Hi bapa, hi bapa” is immediately what you hear. My heart soared.
Then, as he’s sitting with his mother, to the left of his grandma, I
hear, “Hi mamu,” which is Casey’s version of grandma. Again, my heart
soared. He then found his way to his grandma’s lap, and even tho I was
sitting on the other side of the church, I was able to position myself so I
could see him and wave. When Casey saw me, from across the church, as my
father is preaching, he says, “Hi wowe.” Ahhhhhhh I erupted in laughter at
that. Pure joy.

I picked Casey up from the nursery later that morning and seeing him play
made me happy. Having him show me the toys he was playing with made my heart
burst. Hearing him say my name was pure delight. Just seeing him run around
and interact and do his thing makes me laugh.

It’s really funny, when he gets corrected or reprimanded by my parents,
he’ll reply with “Hi bapa” or “Hi mamu” and it just melts your heart. Or
he’ll be walking with me and just at random say, “Hi wowe. Hi wowe.” I love
it. I can’t get enough of it. It never gets old to me. I’ve never enjoyed
life and simple things as much as I do now with my nephew. I just love being
with and around that little guy.

Today he wanted to hang with me. He created a big mess in my office and got
my pants dirty from his sticky, candied up, fingers. I didn’t mind one bit.
I had to walk up and down the church stairs a good 5 times, and at a slower
than slow pace, but it was ok with me cause it was with Casey.

At one point, we were up in my dad’s office and Casey was peering around his
grandpa’s desk, looking for the hook-up with my dad’s stash of M&M’s. Casey
knows where to go for the goods! My dad dropped what he was doing to get
some for Casey, and then counted how many he had and went thru the different
colors with him. As Casey stood there enjoying his M&M’s, my dad recounted
several Casey stories from the past week, and we just laughed at Casey’s
antics and how much we love and adore this kid.

God is many things to us. He is the “I Am.” Everything we need is found in
Him. He is our Healer, Provider, Protector and Strength. He is also so much
more, such as our Father. God is our Father, and we are His children. This
morning, watching Casey get M&M’s from my dad, it dawned on me…if I delight
this much in my earthly nephew, how much more must God delight in us, His
children who He created. Wow. The thought floored me.

God delights in us. God rejoices over us. God adores us. His heart soars at
the thought of us, and with time spent with us. It’s awfully hard for us to
grasp this reality sometimes, yet its oh so true. And I realized this today
in a new way. I know how I feel about my nephew, and Casey doesn’t have to
do anything to earn that love and adoration. I feel it towards him even when
he’s cranky or not obeying or being a little brat. I just naturally love and
delight in that kid, no matter what. And to think that God feels that way
towards me, but even more…words just can’t describe. The God of this
universe is delighted with me. And He’s delighted with you.

This doesn’t do justice to how God feels about us. I could go on a tangent
about how He saves and protects. I could write a dozen more pages on that,
plus how He quiets us with His love. How there is security in that, just
like Casey calms down when his aunt or mom or grandma or grandpa comes to
his rescue. All the sudden, everything in his world is ok again.

All the more-so with God. But again, let me just reiterate and focus simply
on this – He rejoices over us. He delights in us. You make God happy. Do you
understand that? Cause I don’t always, or I forget.

So here it is again…
You. Make. God. Happy. End of story.

I, Laurie Crowley, make God happy. Now insert your name and read it. I,
Laurie Crowley, bring great delight to God the Father. Not because of what I
do or how I perform or what I say. Nope. Just me being me brings Him great
joy. And that I think is way cool and makes me feel super loved.

There is so much spiritual insight and truth to be found watching a little
kid interact and go about their little life. So much to be said. But there’s
nothing greater to be said than that of the love of our Heavenly Father who
rejoices and dances over us. No one questions how much Casey’s family loves
him. We smother him in it. Likewise, there is no need to doubt the love of
our Heavenly Father and the joy that we bring to Him. Allow yourself to be
smothered in that knowledge and reality today!