My husband and I have noticed that many times the youngest member of a large family is a bit "spoiled" and not quite as responsible and mature as the other children in the family. Of course there are many, many exceptions to this but our observation has caused my husband and I to joke (each time we had a new baby), "We need to have one more child so this one won't be the youngest." Well, we now have a definite youngest in our family. As much as we'd love to have more children, for medical reasons, she will be our last child. 

This youngest member is a sweet, redheaded, feisty little two year old girl. Jennifer is our fifth living child. She is a source of joy to the whole family. She greets anyone that enters the room with a cheerful, "Hi!". Her face lights up in a huge smile at the slightest attention given to her. Except for the first six weeks of her life when she was colicky, she is the most content baby we have had. (She is the kind of baby that I thought all babies were like before I had any!) She is always causing the rest of the family to laugh and smile. She is given lots of love and attention by her siblings. They adore her. She is both a cuddler and playful. My husband has jokingly accused the rest of us of down right "baby worshipping", though, if the truth be told, Daddy has a very soft spot in his heart for little Jennifer. 

However, lest I am making it sound like Jennifer is perfect, rest assured that she is not. She screams when she is angry. She throws the occasional fit. She has been known to have her one fussy period each day right when I am trying to make supper. The other day she tore up my address book. She tries to "change the subject" when I correct her. She uses a little chair to climb up to places that she has no right to be. The other day I found her on the sink shelf!

As I think about little Jennifer and how precious she is to me (as are all of my children) I am amazed to think of the fact that, as much as I love her, God loves me even more. I am His child just as Jennifer is my child. I would like to think that He delights in me the way I delight in my little one. However, there are times when I want to desire to scream and throw my figurative little fits. There are times that I get grumpy as Jennifer gets nearly every day around supper time. There are times when I destroy (usually with my mouth!) instead of build up, as Jennifer did to the address book. When God brings an area to my mind that I need to correct, I have been known to "change the subject". I have also gotten myself into situation that I have no business being, as Jennifer did when she was perched happily on the sink shelf. 

Yet, in spite of all of this, God loves me. He lovingly corrects me just as I lovingly correct little Jennifer. He comforts me when I am heartbroken, just as I comfort little Jennifer when she is sad or hurt. I am even more precious to Him than Jennifer is to me. That baffles me! I know all this for a fact because He sent His only Son to die a cruel death for my sins so that I may spend eternity in Heaven with Him When I think of all that God did for me, it makes me think of that little chorus, "After all He's done for me, After all He's done for me, How can I do less than give Him my best and live for Him completely, After all He's done for me".

If you feel it would be an encouragement or a blessing to someone, you have the Stilwell's permission to forward this article in its entirety. They just ask that you include this note at the bottom of the article with their name and e-mail address (Jeff and Kim Stilwell, jkstilwell@juno.com) in case someone wishes to contact them. Thank you.

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