I bet you there is a celebration going on somewhere in our world RIGHT NOW. Whenever you read this post. Complete with big smiles, lots of laughter, loud cheering and maybe even a balloon parade!

And RIGHT NOW, it’s very possible that God is cheering for YOU — whether you “deserve it” or not! He is shouting your name with the great desire that you will SEE Him and KNOW how very much He loves you, no matter what. I know this is true.

This spring, I showed no shame in finagling a good view of my own imperfect progeny. He was graduating from college with THREE THOUSAND of his best friends, and darn it, I was determined to spot him. And get the picture. And let him KNOW that I was celebrating him — in all his imperfection. That unconditional love thing is powerful! I was decked out in a nice dress, the obligatory pearls and the unwise choice of high heels. I swallowed my pride, left my dignified seat, walked across the aisle and asked a Nice Man if he would help me spot my son in the crowd. And oh, by the way, Nice Man, would you also let me stand on your chair so I could snap just one good picture? (After all, he had already spotted his own son, standing on his chair, madly bellowing, “Jeremy! JEEERREEEMMMYYY!” until he got the wave of acknowledgment.)

He answered yes. When Nice Man spotted my son, I wildly waved and yelled at the top of my lungs over and over, “WIIILLL! WIIILLL!” until I finally got that wonderful wide smile of recognition. I don’t remember snapping the picture. But I will never forget the awesome feeling that HE SAW ME make an absolute fool of myself FOR HIM. I hope the memory of my wild display of imperfect love for him in all his imperfection does more than confirm that his mom is crazy. I hope it will one day help him truly understand God’s perfect love for him. After all, standing on a wobbly plastic chair in high heels cannot compare to what Jesus did for him — and us — SO THAT we all would KNOW how much He loves us.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8