Children's Stuffies & Bonds & How Loved We Are

 
Are there any little children in your life? Do they have something they cannot go to sleep (or live) without? Maybe it’s a blanket that’s tattered and full of holes. Maybe it’s a stuffed animal that doesn’t smell very good. Some people call these loveys, blankies, or stuffies.  Stuffies is a kind of new term for these dearly loved stuffed toys that kids can’t live without because they are so bonded with them.
We can learn a great lesson about God’s love as we consider stuffies and bonds.
In one of our Joy Groups, my friend, Lacie, had an Immanuel moment about stuffies and bonds.  An Immanuel moment is when we in the group ask Jesus where He is and what He wants us to know while we sit quietly and listen. Lacie sensed that she was holding one of her big stuffies and Jesus was holding her while she was holding her stuffie. When she asked Jesus, “What do you want me to know about this picture,” she sensed that He said, “Stuffies and bonds.” Lacie then asked Jesus what He wanted her to know about stuffies and bonds.
She heard Him say, “I love all of you just like kids love their stuffies.”
As Lacie shared her Immanuel moment about stuffies and bonds, the size and depth of God’s love almost overwhelmed me, because I immediately thought of my youngest grandson and how attached (bonded) he is to his little big-eyed critter, Coconut. In a flash, I remembered one time when Coconut got left at my house. Ryan’s mommy thought he could go to sleep without Coconut.
Not!  We had to meet halfway in order to get Coconut back home.
Still years later, Coconut has the primary place on Ryan’s bed.  He goes in the backpack for sleepovers; he travels wherever his bonded owner travels.  Coconut is a stuffie that Ryan cannot live without because they are bonded and Ryan loves Coconut with depths that only another such loving bonder can understand.
Some stuffie bonds last until college.
I don’t think there are words for how much kids love their stuffies and blankies and other loveys.  It’s such a deep love that moms have a hard time washing them.  Often other people don’t understand the bond.  These bonds should never be taken away, only changed when the child is ready, even if that’s in college.
So I encourage you to remember or notice, how much a kid in your life loves their stuffie.  Think about how God loves you even more–and He will never go away or ever break the bond of love He has for you.