easter dress

We went all out this year for Burrito’s Easter dress. dresses.  A lovely blue sundress with eyelet lace and yellow flowers.  A flouncy hat with a big white bow.  White gloves and a matching handbag.  And, of course, cute little white sandals.

She was so excited to get home and try everything on.  In fact, she wanted to try on her dress in her car seat, but the logistics proved impossible.

It had been a long day.  Lots of racing around and shopping, a dinner out, and a late night (for her) coming back.  We skipped her bath so we could get her to bed sooner.  She needs her rest and has even more than the usual toddler grouchiness if she doesn’t get enough sleep.  In fact, she had been a bit grouchy on the ride home.  I tried to take her dress away (worried that her attempts to get it on were in fact stretching it out) and she burst into tears.

Yes, she was a little grouchy.

But the minute we put her in her dress and accessories, she transformed into a young lady.  She stood in front of our long mirror and analyzed herself.  And was it my imagination, or did she stand up a little straighter?  She was clearly delighted, declaring, “I like my pretty dress!”  And Christopher and I were forced to collapse on the floor in response to the sheer cuteness.  “Oh my goodness!  How is she our’s?”

Nothing delights me more as a mother than getting my daughter something that will delight her.  The sheer joy on her face, the joy of feeling beautiful and cared for, the joy of having something that she really loves is worth any price tag.

I remember Jesus saying something like that.  He said that a good parent won’t give their child a stone or a snake when they ask for a fish.  He said that even as we delight in giving good things to our children, so our Heavenly Father delights in giving us the Holy Spirit.

It’s amazing to me to think that the way I feel about my daughter is how God feels about me.  He delights in me.  He delights in seeing me delighted.  I tend to think about God all too often as some sort of cosmic rule monger, always watching me to see if I trip up.  The idea of God as a delighted, loving Heavenly Father is a tough one to get my mind around.  But it’s the picture of God that Jesus gives to us.

This is Easter week, so naturally my mind is on Jesus’ sacrifice and death for me, and His victory over death in the resurrection.  My mind is on the ultimate gift that I’ve ever received.  The gift for which no price tag was too great, that I might know the delight of life forever.  The gift of salvation.

Hebrews says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2, NIV).

Jesus delights in the joy of giving His children good gifts.

The other day, Burrito turned to me and said, “I like my pretty dress.  I dance in the palace.”  “In the palace?  Like Cinderella?”  “Yeah.”

What joy to give my daughter a good gift.