Love On The Steps

After living in the same house for over 10 years, there are several memories as I pack and prepare to move. I was coming down the steps today from my bedroom and one very fond memory came to me.

My son was only 4 ½ years old when we moved into our two-story house. His one wish for our new place was that he wanted “a stair house”. He loved the stairs. They were like an indoor gym for him! He’d run up and down them for any reason - and for no reason. I loved the steps too, but for a different reason.

Every morning I would wake my little boy up, and try to get him dressed and ready for preschool. Some days were easy – he was ready to go! But other days, when he was tired and sleepy, he’d say “Momma, can we love on the steps?” I’d sit on the steps, and he’d crawl up in my lap with one leg on each side of me, lean his little head over on me, and I’d hold him in my arms, and just love him. I’d shower him in kisses as we sat there and just talked about the small things that life is made of.

Years later after my daughter was born “love on the steps” was something she wanted too. In the mornings and sometimes in the evening after a long day at work, she’d come up to me, and say “Momma, let’s love on the steps” with her big green eyes looking so tired. I’d sit with her and she’d tell me all about her day, and I’d tickle here to hear her giggle, and she’d have me hold her hands while she bent over backwards to look at the kitchen upside down.

Now my son is 16 and my daughter is 9. They’re too big for my lap. In fact, I’d come closer to being able to sit in theirs! It’s been a long time since we’ve had “love on the steps”. Looking back at all the times they asked and I was too busy getting dressed, running late for an appointment, in the middle of cooking dinner, or just too tired, I realize the mistake I made in sometimes saying “no, I don’t have time”.

Jesus commanded us in John 13:34-35 saying, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Often we see this verse and we forget that the “love one another” also means those closest to us. We can become so busy being Christians and following Jesus’ wish that we “love our neighbors as ourselves” that we fail to love those closest to us as much and as often as Jesus would like.

Friends don’t let another day go by without “loving on the steps” those that are dearest to you. Jesus commands it. They want it. You need it.