Because I Love You

Julia is still a child.

When she was four, she said: "You should carry me because I'm still a baby. When I'm five, you don't have to carry me anymore..."

She's turning seven in a few months - and she still gets me to carry her every now and then. When I ask her why she still needs me to carry her, she always answers: "Because I love you..."

When she gets in bed with Jeng and I, she has this habit of draping her legs over either one of us. She'd drape her legs over my tummy and rest her head on her mother's tummy. Lying in this "H" position, I'd ask her why she lies down like that, she always answers: "Because I love you..."

When I'm working from home on my laptop (like now) - she gets on my lap to have a look at what I'm doing. When I ask her why she has to see what I'm doing, she always answers (you got it): "Because I love you..."

In the mornings when I walk to the front door, she has this habit of "walking me to the door". When I tell her she doesn't need to do it, she says she wants to. I ask why, of course. And of course, the answer is always: "Because I love you..."

And at night, after her prayers when we get those few minutes before she falls asleep, she lies down beside me, looks me in the eyes and tells me of everything she did that day. After she has told me everything, I ask her if she was happy that day. She always says yes. I ask why she was happy. And she'd always answer: "Because I love you..."

Yes, Julia is STILL a child.

Yet she embodies the Love of God more than she could ever understand.

Jesus asks us to carry him in our hearts - because He loves us.

He asks that he be allowed to drape his arms and legs around us - because He loves us.

He asks that he be part of our work - because He loves us.

He wakes us up every morning, guides us through the day, and watches us as we sleep. All because He loves us.

Someday, Julia will grow up, and I won't be able to carry her anymore. She won't climb in bed with her mom and I like she does now. She'll have her own work to attend to.

She'll walk her husband to the door and have her husband watch her sleep.

But one thing that no one or nothing will ever take away is the love that my wife and I share with her today.

It is a love that will remain with us forever. A love that will always remind us of the love that can only come from God.

"We love you, Julia. And when you get to read this many years from now, you will understand that we raised you the way we are raising you because we love you".