Devotion

That's Margaret Anne. Her daddy used to call her "Sporty" (it fits!) -- or "Deeda", a strangely-evolved nickname. Margaret Anne is holding a potato she grew for me. She took some potato eyes from an old potato and put them in the ground. She diligently nurtured the little plants that grew up and waited patiently for the day she could dig up that potato and give it to Grandmother. She beamed when she presented it to me the other day, and I said, "We have to get a picture of that!"

Grandmother's heart was touched by her devotion. It took a lot for that little girl to follow through on her project to get to the desired end. What a lovely example she is of our Heavenly Father's devotion to bringing us into full "sonship" -- nurturing and tending, providing and protecting, He knows the desired end He has for us (Jer. 29:11), and He knows just what we need to bring us to that point. In His sovereignty, He planned His desired family from before the foundation of the world.

What a privilege to be part of that plan! What a clarion call Margaret's real life object lesson is to never, for a moment, forget that devotion He has to His own purposes, not for me only, but for His eternal Father-heart.

And do you think that potato had any right to tell Margaret Anne how it should be used? Or to whom she should give it? Or when to pluck it from its root? As the potter to the clay, as the gardener to the 'tater, so is the Sovereign of the Universe to the objects of His desire. Thank you, Lord, for this clearly seen picture in my life. And thank you, Margaret Anne, for your devotion -- you were devoted to that potato for a larger purpose -- to present it to your Grandmother. I love you, Sweetie!