Dylann's Lovelies

My Dylann is 7. My Dylann loves with absolute abandon. The recipients of her love belong mostly to the stuffed animal family, but she is an equal oppurtunity lover. At the moment the number is 17. 17 is the number of animals that make their way into and extremely oversized bag and are toted to safety when our family has to seek shelter in a storm or for a sleepover at grandma's. These 17 are also the reason she struggles to find joy in going anywhere (including Florida!) where she isn't allowed to take all 17. This deep devotion isn't limited to stuffed dogs and American girl dolls; anything she deems herself "protector" of would fall in her category. Yesterday, it was her hand-me-down pink wallet with an "R" on the front (for her big sister Rylee), complete with $7.00 and a VIP license from Chuck E. Cheese. You see yesterday we, along with several thousand of my fellow Joplinites, braved the mall for some bargain shopping. 2 hours, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of boots, 1 potty break and a snack at the Great American Cookie later we are walking through the rain back to our car when it hits her.....her beloved is gone. With an agonizing scream of "It's gone! I have to go find it!", she is out the door and halfway across the parking lot before I can catch her. If I would have known I would be sprinting in the rain I would have re-thought my shoe choice of high heel boots. But, If I'm going down, at least I'll look good on the ground! Unfortuneatly it wasn't me who went down, it was Dylann. She hit the hard ground of the mall hard. Now sobs of pain mix with sobs of fear as we limp around to every place we can remember being with no luck in finding her lovely. With arms around each other we begin to head back to the car when she looks up at me, tears brimming and chin quivering, "Mom, it's O.K. It's not as bad as loosing a member of my family." Oh wallet and 17 stuffed animals, you don't deserve the love and devotion of this sweet little girl! Where did she learn love like this? Love that puts others first. Love that loves getting nothing in return. Love that may cause pain in order to be given completely. I know I am suppose to set the example of Christ for my daughter, but today she reminded me of the way He loves us. As I think about some rough things I have heard about taking my family to Sudan this week, I am reminded that I am one of His, and even though I don't deserve it, He'll protect me where ever He takes me. He loves me when I don't get it right, and when it was necessary His love was filled with pain as he laid His life down for mine. It's in love like that, I can feel safe. With that thought I know that I can greatfully be thrown in the bag that He holds close and go wherever He wants me to go for He is my savior and I am His lovely.