First Everything: How Parenting Models Our Relationship With God

By Valerie Fritchie

I remember your first everything,
First beats of your heart,
First twinkle in your eyes,
First taste of life,
First sad goodbye,
I remember your first everything,
First tears,
First sounds of laughter,
First kiss,
First happily ever after,
First smile, exactly how it happened,
I remember your first everything,
First trickles of water,
First days of summer,
First tucks under the covers,
First moments discovered,
I remember your first everything,
First time you shared,
First time you climbed,
First time you said your prayers,
First moment of pride,
I remember your first everything,
The joy you bring into my life,
How could I ever forget?
You are my love, my baby, my life.

This poem was written about my babies. I have read this poem at church gatherings and included it in gifts for new parents. I often think of this poem as a description of the way God views us as His children. Let’s break it down line by line.

I remember your first everything, First beats of your heart,

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)

First twinkle in your eyes, First taste of life, First sad goodbye,

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:14)

I remember your first everything, First tears, First sounds of laughter, First kiss, First happily ever after, First smile, exactly how it happened

“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.” (Psalm 139:15)

I remember your first everything, First trickles of water, First days of summer, First tucks under the covers, First moments discovered, I remember your first everything, First time you shared, First time you climbed, First time you said your prayers, First moment of pride 

“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16)

I remember your first everything, The joy you bring into my life, How could I ever forget? You are my love, my baby, my life.

“How precious to me are your thoughts, God!” (Psalm 139:17)

I am certain that God uses our worldly relationships to model for us what types of relationships we can have with Him. Parenting is one of those relationships.

God sometimes needs us to see Him as our Parent. He has the ability to come to us or have us come to Him in the same ways as a parent/child relationship.

Sometimes we need to look up to Him with those sad “I’m sorry” eyes as we ask for forgiveness. Sometimes we need Him to come to us and wrap His loving arms around us and hold us while we cry.

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 “I am certain that God uses our worldly relationships to model for us what types of relationships we can have with Him. Parenting is one of those relationships.”

Sometimes we may feel the need to approach Jesus as we approach our child. Remember Jesus came to the earth as an infant, maybe so that we could come to Him and not be afraid.

When we pursue Jesus this way, we get the opportunity to hold Him close and keep Him in that special place like we would our own children. This allows our heart to connect with God in such a way that is familiar and comfortable to us.

Relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is our key to living our best Christian life. We are truly blessed to have our God love and care for us so much that He models relationships in so many different ways as to make sure that no one is left out and everyone has an opportunity to learn how to love Him!

Later on, I took this poem and turned it into a short story. Doing this project allowed me to dive deeper into God’s love for me. I thought I was writing it for myself as a parent, but it turns out God had a bigger picture in mind. Without further ado, allow me to introduce, “I Remember!”

I Remember!

I remember your first everything. I was there for the first beats of your heart. Did you know you were thought of long before you ever came to be?

I knew about you. But even bigger than that, God knew about you too. God knew everything about you before you were born. The best part about it is He not only knew about you, but He knows you too! He’s a big, big God with a big, big plan for your life (Jeremiah 1:5).

I remember your first everything. I was there for the first twinkles in your eyes. Oh, how I remember looking into your sweet little face. How my heart overflowed with love, and I was in awe of how I could love someone so much that I just met.

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 “God knew about you too. God knew everything about you before you were born. The best part about it is He not only knew about you, but He knows you too!”

But even bigger than that, God loves you too! A parent’s love is always and forever. But God is a big, big God, and His love for you is even bigger than you can imagine (Numbers 6:24–26).

I remember your first everything. I was there for your very first tears, and your very first sounds of laughter. I can still hear your laughter echoing through the walls of our home. I was there for your very first smile, and I remember exactly how it happened. But even bigger than that, God was there for all those things too!

A parent’s heart is proud and endearing. But God is a big, big God, and He is proud of you in such a big way that you may never fully understand, and that’s OK (Psalm 56:8, Psalm 126:5).

I remember your first everything. I was there for your first bath. I remember because you screamed, I cried, and later when you were snuggled up in your warm, soft towel, we all took a deep breath together because we had made it through. But bigger than that, our big, big God is always there to wrap you in His big, big arms. He will remind you every day, over and over again, that you are His child (Deuteronomy 33:27).

I remember your first everything. I was there for your very first tucks under the covers. I remember because you were tucked in so tightly that I thought you wouldn’t be able to breathe. We laugh about it now, but those first nights as you slept, we went into your room just to make sure you were breathing. And every moment since then, you have taken our breath away. But even bigger than that, our big, big God — who breathed the very breath of life into you — longs for those moments when you take His breath away too (Genesis 2:7).

I remember your first everything. I was there for the very first time you shared. I remember because you wanted Mommy and Daddy to have some of your strained peas. It wasn’t long until strained peas were all over you, us, and the kitchen! But even bigger than that, our big God is always there to clean up any messes you get yourself into. And don’t worry; He won’t scold you. Instead it will be like you never made the mess at all (Matthew 14:13–21).

I remember your first everything. I was there the very first time you walked. I remember because it was Christmas morning and you walked toward a big, shiny toy that you loved. But even bigger than that, our big, big God wants to share everything with you and always walk hand in hand beside you (Micah 6:8) — or even give you a piggyback ride when you’re too tired, or maybe even just for fun.

I remember your first everything. I was there the very first time you said your prayers. I remember because in a moment of not wanting to think about the words “If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take,” I changed the words so it wouldn’t make you sad. So as we prayed each night, our words became “Your love be with me through the night, and wake me with the morning’s light.”

You always thought of everyone to pray for: even your blankets, pillows and all of your stuffed animals. But even bigger than that, our big, big God heard every single one of those prayers. Not only that, but He treasures them all in His heart (Revelation 5:8).

I remember your first everything. Oh, the joy you bring into my life. How could I ever forget? You are my love, my baby, my life. But even bigger than that, you are the biggest joy God could ever ask for! I hope and pray you will always remember that (John 15:11).

Learning and Building

This story is full of ways in which our God loves us and thinks about us. What an amazing God we serve that He can take something so important as parenting and turn it into ways to learn and build relationships with Him.

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 “What an amazing God we serve that He can take something so important as parenting and turn it into ways to learn and build relationships with Him.”

I leave you now with the words of an old children’s song: “Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing our God cannot do.”
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