Neverending

"How much do you love mummy?" I asked my youngest son while tucking him to bed last night.
"Neverending." he replied with a grin.

I knew that would be his answer.

It started a month ago when I asked him the same question. He thought for a moment and then whispered into my ear as earnestly as he could..."Neverending". It caught me by surprise because I was expecting him to say, "A million bottles of milk" or something more predictable. But 'neverending' caught me off guard.

I recently looked up its meaning, the first, most obvious was 'having no end' - the second was more thought provoking : "uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing"

From my six year old's sweet little mind he chose this word to express his love for me. For my mothers heart it was 'a very special moment'.

The next night while saying prayers I whispered, "Do you know how much Mummy loves you?"
"How much?" he asked.
"Neverending."

From then on it has been our little goodnight routine. When he's upset I use it to remind him how loved he is, and it guarantees a smile on his tear stained face. And when I ask him 'how much do I love you' he always knows the answer.

It's our word.

Last week before school we had a special little moment when I asked him if he knew how much God loved him.
He thought for a second or two, and then answered with certainty, "Neverending."

Dan is growing up knowing he is loved, that's for sure!

Heaven's real love is like that - powerful, endless, eternal, 'indefinite'...

Neverending.

Like the ring that has no end.

It doesn't matter what we say, do, think or speak - we are loved by our Creator... because we are the created! Just like I love Dan because he is my son and I am the Mum.

His love is unconditional, intentional, indescribable.

It's the same love that propelled Jesus to heal the sick, broken hearted and unloved, to bring life to death, to die for humanity....

It's the same love that counts all the hairs on my head and had thoughts of you and me before we were born.

"My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret...your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days of my life were written before ever they took shape..." Psalm139

Now if that's not neverending love, what is?

"Love never fails (never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end)" 1Cor 13

I LOVE that this amazing, priceless gift that was in the beginning and through to eternity is also my very own treasure to keep. I am guaranteed a wellspring of love to sustain me through my pilgrimage of life - through the lowest of valleys to the most beautiful of mountains (Lord of the Rings type mountains!)

Dan is sleeping peacefully now, completely unaware that I have been writing about our special word, but I am praying that in the years to come he will have a revelation of God's all consuming, amazing love for him - and with that knowledge there will be no stopping him as he runs his race through to the finish line.

His future is still ahead of him.

Filled with hope. Neverending.