I couldn’t make Lillah stop crying. I tried laying her on her stomach. I tried rocking her. I feeding her. I tried burping her. Nothing was working. So, I went outside, sat down in a rocker on the front porch, started rocking her. She was still crying when I remembered something.

When my little brother was in trouble or in pain he used to climb up into a rocker in our home and he’d start to sing, “Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.” I started to sing the chorus to Lillah. She settled down into my arms and her crying subsided. I kept singing and she fell sound asleep. The song brought us both some peace.

And then I thought about the coming semester. I’m always worried about whether or not I’ll have anything interesting to say or if I’ll be able to give the students something they can use. It dawned on me, as I was holding Lillah, that what I really need to concentrate on is loving these students and letting them know that Jesus loves them. I’m not sure of a lot of things but “Jesus loves me, this I know.”

Through our humanity, in our pain, inspite of our weakness or our inability to verbalize our needs, Jesus loves us. “Here in is love, not that we loved Him but that He loved us.” That’s the most comforting thing any of us can know for sure.

So, I’m going to relax in the arms of my Saviour and let him give me comfort as I look toward tomorrow. I’m going to let him love me. And I’m going to share that love with as many students as I can lay my hands on. See you on the front porch.