Becky Kopitzke

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I Love You Lots and Cows

July 16, 2012

I don’t know where she got the idea. Maybe it was because we’d just visited our friend’s dairy farm. She found the animals intimidating—larger than life. In my daughter’s world, those cattle were the biggest thing imaginable. That might be why, when her dad asked her, “How much does Daddy love you?” our two-year-old answered, “Cows.”

“Cows?” My husband laughed. “Silly, how much does Daddy love you?”

Again, she answered, “Cows.”

For days, our daughter upheld this baffling reply until finally my husband taught her an appropriate response. I walked into the family room to find them both beaming and clapping their hands.

“Say it for Mom!” my husband cheered. “How much does Daddy love you?”

“Lots!” she shouted. “Lots and cows!”

I love you lots and cows

It’s been several months since we first heard this phrase, and now it’s etched in our ears and on our hearts. Our toddler declares at random, “Momma, I love you lots and cows.” She says it to her sister and to her daddy. So we reply with hugs and the same special endearment. “I love you lots and cows, too.”

I wonder—how much does God love us? If he had to describe in human-scale terms his colossal, unfathomable love, I think he’d say. . .

I love you this sunset.

I love you Grand Canyon.

I love you Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Mars.

My child, can’t you see? I love you Jesus.

Wow. That is big indeed.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).

“How much does Momma love you?” I asked my daughter yesterday.

“Lots and cows!” She smiled.

I kissed her forehead, held her cheeks in my hands and followed up with a new question. “And how much does God love you?”

“Lots and cows—and peanut butter!”

Precious girl. She gets it.

Blessings,
Becky

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Filed Under: God's Love, Parenting, Sentimental, Things I Learn from My Kids

Comments

  1. Laura S. says

    July 16, 2012 at 12:34 pm

    WONDERFUL post! I’ll never look at a cow now, without thinking “Jesus”!

    • Becky says

      July 17, 2012 at 5:33 pm

      How funny, Laura! Next time you’re visiting Wisconsin, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to worship, then. 🙂 Cows we have – in abundance!

  2. Kim says

    July 16, 2012 at 3:00 pm

    What a great, grand and beautiful perspective! I giggled when I read “lots and cows”. Those early days and whimsical expressions deserve to be captured on paper.

    Reading your words “I love you Jesus” brings tears to my eyes. How big his love is, indeed!

  3. Gail Purath says

    July 17, 2012 at 2:14 pm

    So sweet. Don’t kids teach us about God? I learned so much with my children and I get to learn it all over again with my grandchildren. Recently while we were overseas doing Christian work, I got an email from my 4 year old granddaughter saying she loved me more than tattoos. : ) Gail (BibleLoveNotes.com)

    • Becky says

      July 17, 2012 at 5:31 pm

      Oh, how funny, Gail! Your granddaughter must REALLY love you. 🙂

  4. MB@NewLifeSteward says

    July 17, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    Great post here! As Gail said, kids teach us so much! Thank you for sharing!

    Mary Beth

  5. Alissa says

    July 17, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    Oh my sweet heartbreak. “I love you Jesus.” Wow.

    I think we all have “I love you this much” stories, but I sincerely appreciate the correlation between that and God’s love for us.

    Thank you!

  6. Robin says

    July 17, 2012 at 10:52 pm

    Please tell my Belly that her Auntie Bobbie loves her lots and cows. 🙂

    • Becky says

      July 18, 2012 at 1:47 pm

      She smiled when I told her!

  7. Beth says

    July 18, 2012 at 2:46 am

    This reminds me of the verse that says our Father owns “cattle on a thousand hills.” I guess you could say that He loves us “Lots and cows” too! 😉 Great post, Becky!

    • Becky says

      July 18, 2012 at 1:46 pm

      Oh, great connection! Thanks, Beth!

  8. Faith Konrath says

    July 18, 2012 at 8:01 pm

    This is very sweet:) Cows are my favorite animal so I just happened to click on your post from the Women Living Well linky party;) I’m your newest follower!

    • Becky says

      July 18, 2012 at 8:03 pm

      Thanks for joining me here, Faith! I’m so glad you hopped over from WLW!

  9. Kristina says

    July 18, 2012 at 10:32 pm

    oh my goodness, that is the cutest thing! I love it! Kids are hilarious!

  10. Sarah Brooks says

    July 19, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    That is SO precious… and I love how you equated it to God’s love for us. It was perfect!

    My youngest son use to tell us he loved us muy, muy nachos! It became a thing around here and we all said it to each other. “I love you muy muy, nachos!” incidentally, muy, muy nacho eventually became muy, muy peanut butter. I think with kids any time peanut butter is evolved they mean serious business! A great post, as always! 🙂 I always look forward to reading yours.

    • Becky says

      July 20, 2012 at 1:18 am

      Thank you, Sarah! How fun to know you have a similar saying in your family. Muy, muy peanut butter – hilarious! And yet very serious, yes ma’am! 🙂

  11. Alana of Domestic Bliss Diaries says

    July 19, 2012 at 2:17 pm

    This was absolutely precious! I love how you find a God-lesson in anything and everything. Truth is, there really is a God-lesson to be had in anything and everything, isn’t there? We just have to open our eyes and look.

    http://www.domesticblissdiaries.com

    • Becky says

      July 20, 2012 at 1:16 am

      So true, Alana! Thanks for reading!

  12. Liberty says

    July 19, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    This is so so good. I want to be like her… when I grown down..
    Blessings!
    http://bit.ly/M1M14B

  13. Leah aka FFPMaMMa says

    July 19, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    So perfect. Out of our children’s ignorance comes God’s message of Love and Grace.

  14. Deanna says

    July 20, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    I love the faith of a child and so wish we could all be there, void of logic and full of silliness. The world would be such a better place!

  15. Richella says

    July 20, 2012 at 2:44 pm

    Love this! And I’m glad there are little girls who are learning that their mamas and daddies love them lots and cows–and that God loves them even more than that!

  16. Sylvia R says

    July 23, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Oh, wow, that IS big indeed. Your title caught me and brought me, and the message makes me so glad it did! I want to remember this!

  17. Robin says

    July 23, 2012 at 5:53 pm

    Out of the mouths of babes! I just have to share this with my readers.

    • Becky says

      July 23, 2012 at 7:45 pm

      Thanks, Robin!

  18. Michy (lovingourjourney.com) says

    July 23, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    Thank you for linking up w/Faithfully Parenting Fridays linky party again…means a lot to have folks come back!
    Awesome story!!! A good reminder for all those times that it can be easy to dismiss a word as a little one’s vocab is a bit confusing sometime…look at the power of this message! 🙂

  19. Hands to Work, Hearts to God says

    July 23, 2012 at 11:34 pm

    Sweet! I love stories about what kids say! So surprising and endearing! Patsy from
    HeARTworks and
    papemelroti

  20. Rae says

    July 31, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    This story reminds me of when my son was little, we were saying our night time prayers and at the end we say God bless mom and dad, our family and friends….and my son says …”and God bless Shopko.” We finished the prayer and I asked him, why do you want God to bless Shopko? (I was more than just a little curious, we had been there earlier in the day, but he hadn’t seemed super enthusiastic or asked me any questions that can sometimes lead to God questions.)

    His answer was simple. “Mom, I asked God to bless Shopko because they had the spinosaurus toy there I really wanted.” Out of the mouths of babes! He had been so quiet because he had preoccupied over this cheap little toy he saw there all day!

    Now my son is almost a teenager, but I still smile every time I drive by that store and think of his very important prayer that night. Lol

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If you love your kids but you sometimes forget to feed them lunch, if you're crazy about your husband but some days you want to set his hunting gear on fire, and if you adore Jesus with your whole heart yet you mess up time and time again, then you and I are friends already.

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