Lessons For Living Life Wide OpenSample

A few days after we met Mareto, we had the honor of sitting with his birth mom to answer her questions and ask our own. One particular question had been at the forefront of my mind, and when the moment was right, I asked her, “Does the name Mareto have any special meaning?” She simply smiled at me and said, “Peace.”

I think about this often, the way God brought it all together with such purpose. I think about it especially whenever certain things pop out of Mareto’s mouth.

Life with Mareto can be like playing the telephone game sometimes. He blurts out little phrases that have their origin in something he saw or heard, but by the time they make their way through his mind and back out of his mouth, they’ve transformed. At first they may sound silly, but when I stop to think about them, I see the amazing truths God is teaching me through my son’s expressions. Sometimes life’s most poignant lessons are learned in the least expected places, and sometimes the peace of God that overcomes our circumstances starts in the mouth of a child. . . .

For instance, when life feels overwhelming or confusing, it often shows up on my face; and because Mareto is such an intuitive little boy, he can immediately tell that I’m struggling. In those moments he sits next to me, pats my knee, or takes my face in his little hands and says, “It’s okay about it.” He doesn’t usually know what “it” is for me, but he knows whatever it is . . . it’s okay.

It’s true. Maybe whatever I’m dealing with isn’t okay in the moment, but eventually it will be okay—because we live in a world that can be a bit upside down, but we know love wins at the end of every day and God is still on the throne. . . .

God knows each of us intimately, and he knows how we tend to interpret our world. Mareto experiences the world in a unique way and shares it with those around him. I believe God knew when he determined that Mareto and I would go together just how much I needed a little boy whose name is Peace to remind me, “It’s okay about it.”