The Need for Attention

Last Saturday I spent the day at my 12-year-old son’s first baseball tournament of the season. It was a gorgeous spring day and we enjoyed spending the day together as a family. When we got in the car to leave for the game that morning I remarked to my husband that I forgot to bring my book. I love to read and I’ve not had a lot of time recently to do that, so I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity to read a bit during our day away. My son happened to hear me make that comment, and obviously took offense. He said something like, “You were planning to read instead of watching me play baseball?” I could tell he was hurt, but I explained that I had only planned to read during the down times when he wasn’t playing. But that didn’t matter to him. He only cared about the fact that I wouldn’t have my full attention on him that day. You see, my son craves my attention – whether he wants to admit it or not – he wants me to watch him, to cheer him on, to be aware of his successes. He wants his dad and me to be his biggest fans. He needs that encouragement. We all need that. It is ingrained in us. That desire is in the deepest part of all of us. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that need, unless we are seeking to meet that need through unhealthy ways.

Whether or not we had that kind of attention from our parents when we were kids, we can be confident in knowing that we do have a Father who dotes on us, who cares immensely about every move we make, and watches us intently. The cool thing about God is that He is God. He is not limited by time and space like we earthly parents are. He can give His full time and attention to you, and to me, and to the millions of other people on this earth. He has plenty of time and attention to go around! The Word of God says that He even sings over us. One of my favorite verses is Zephaniah 3:17 which says, “The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing”. Our Father in heaven thinks we are pretty awesome. We are worthy of his attention, and not only just his attention, but He actually takes great delight in us and rejoices over us! And that makes me feel pretty special.