There are moments in motherhood when time seems to pause — when a child’s words pierce straight through the noise of the world and land right in your heart.
Lucy had a writing assignment this week: “Describe your favorite room in the house.” She began circling adjectives like cozy, warm, safe, and beautiful. When I asked which room she was thinking of, she looked at me and said with that matter-of-fact sweetness,
“Well actually, Mommy, my favorite room isn’t a room. It’s your lap.”
I had to take a breath — partly to hold back tears, partly because I was stunned. Her answer wasn’t about a place or an object. It was about a feeling — love, belonging, and the warmth of being held. She took something tangible and turned it into something eternal.
Here’s what she wrote for her assignment:
I absolutely love my house. It has many rooms, but my favorite spot is in my mommy’s lap. To start with, my mom’s lap is cozy, warm, and safe. Another reason my mom’s lap is my favorite place is because it makes me feel bright. Lastly, I love sitting in the lap of someone so beautiful and elegant.
🥹 Cue the waterworks.
Then, as if God wanted to gently drive the point home, the next morning she woke up in our hotel room and said,
“Mom, I opened my eyes and couldn’t figure out why the bathroom door was so close to my bed. Then I felt you and realized my mommy was in my bed too! And then I remembered we were in a hotel — and I was so happy I had my mommy with me.”
I smiled and told her, “Lucy, you always have your mommy.”
She thought for a moment and said, “Not on Tuesday nights I don’t.” (That’s our weekly date night.)
I laughed and said, “But we always come home.”
And then came the sentence that finished me off completely:
“Well, I guess I always have you in my heart.”
Her words touched me deeply — not only because of their sweetness, but because of what they revealed.
When Richard and I first met, we were both Christians, but Jesus wasn’t the center of our world. He was someone we remembered before dinner and thought about on Sundays, but He wasn’t rooted into our everyday life. Over the years, we’ve made a conscious choice to change that — to make God not just a priority, but the priority in our home. We’re still growing, still learning, and still far from perfect, but I love that we are walking in the right direction together.
And I can see the fruit of it.
Lucy’s ability to love so deeply, to speak with wisdom beyond her years, and to understand what truly matters — that doesn’t come from us alone. That comes from God living and working within her.
When we raise our children with Christ at the center, their hearts begin to mirror His light — gentle, thoughtful, and full of grace. They love big. They feel deeply. They notice beauty in places the world rushes past.
Lucy reminded me that my lap may be her favorite “room,” but God’s presence is truly the home we both rest in. And I pray she always knows that — no matter where she goes or how tall she grows — she will always have a place there.
✨ “We love because He first loved us.” — 1 John 4:19
Raising Light 