Three simple words

I’m going to go all out today and post a second post in the same day. :) This isn’t one of Grandpa’s stories, however, it’s one of my own. And it’s not from years ago - it’s from today – and I’m the grandparent in this one. So, in keeping with the generational theme, but this time leaping forward by two, rather than back…


This morning I woke up to three words I will never forget. My four-year-old granddaughter was sleeping on a cushion on my bedroom floor for the second night in a row, as her family was visiting for the weekend. To fully appreciate the words I heard this morning, I must begin by describing yesterday morning. Yesterday, Saturday, she woke up in a very chatty mood at a very early hour – 5 a.m. to be exact – and never went back to sleep.

You need to know that I am not a morning person. (An understatement…) Nevertheless, every Monday through Friday I must act like a morning person and get up and go to work, like many other people who are fortunate enough to be employed. Well, by the time Saturday rolls around, it’s no surprise that I am more than ready to sleep in a bit – or a lot. So when yesterday’s 5 a.m. wake-up discussion began, it was difficult for me to fully appreciate it, even though I love my granddaughter like crazy. While I dozed, off and on, from 5-7 a.m., there were numerous comments and questions like, “I’m thirsty,” “Is it time to get up, yet?” and so forth…

So this morning, when I glanced at the clock upon hearing her first word – “Grandma” – and realized it was already around 6:30 a.m., I was pleased that it was later than yesterday’s start time, although it was still earlier than I had hoped, since my bedtime occurred after midnight. Well, preparing for the likely drink or potty question, I replied, “Yes, honey?”

And that’s when I heard it. The three words that are continuing to rock my world even tonight. She replied simply and wondrously. “I love you.” That was it. No asking “Can I watch the Clifford movie?” or “Are the deer still up?” or “When can we get up, Grandma?” Nope. This morning, my darling granddaughter just wanted to tell me that she loved me.

As I was still enjoying the warmth of those early morning words, and her love behind them – receiving joy from that expression even now, more than fifteen hours later – it suddenly occurred to me. I actually get to start every day with those three beautiful words. They are spoken daily from my Heavenly Father, who loves me even more than my sweet granddaughter does. If I was so transformed by her words of love this morning, shouldn’t I be equally transformed (even more so) by my Creator’s morning reminder of love?

Why is it I seem to miss His greeting first thing in the morning? Am I not listening? Do I not truly believe His love is there for me? Actually, I think it’s because I forget... I forget to remember that He is not only in the room with me, but wants to remind me – first thing each day – that He loves me like crazy. He wants the first three words I hear every day to be “I love you” – and He gets to speak them, because no one loves me like He does. I think He spoke them audibly through my granddaughter today. To remind me how awesome it is to start the day with love. And how possible.