Today, I told my mom that I’ve never been loved more than I am right now. It’s all I ever wanted as a girl – to be adored. I think that’s every girl’s deep down dream. To mean something. To matter.

But it didn’t quite play out the way my teen mind imagined it.

As a young college student, I had a little entourage of young siblings about the same age as my three kids now. They were fiercely possessive and gave every date I ever had the third degree of questioning.

I didn’t appreciate the love these kids gave me in a time I needed it most.

Late high school and early college are tough times for a girl. But these littles (who are now 21, 18, 17 and 16) gave me an escape from the realities of leaving the nest.

I could always count on a call from my Peeky Boo to brighten my day like nothing else.

I must confess that I spent the first semester of my freshman year driving home every weekend to see them. I couldn’t help it. School was great, but I was shy. I didn’t know a soul (which I absolutely loved), but I missed those little stinkers.

Seventeen years later, my life looks a lot like it did back then. My littles are just like my brother and three sisters. They love me with everything the’ve got.

It’s a selfish love, but it’s a love that speaks loudly. It’s a love that’s exhausting and sweet. It’s a love that can turn a frown upside down without a word. It just takes a man cub pointing to my nose or my big girl crawling in my lap or Little One searching the room for me to make all the stress melt away.

I’m so blessed to experience this tiny love more than once in my life.

I’m even more blessed to soak up this love all day, every day.

The man who passed the Johnson babies’ test makes it possible for me to be on full scholarship again. He makes it possible for me to just lay next to Little One and watch her sleep.

He works hard – driving back and forth all over Mississippi, putting up with all kinds of stuff – so I get to be part of the tiny love that fills our home.

He puts up with kids in our bed because I’m a weakling at 3 a.m. He gives me full license to educate our kids. He goes along with my crunchy discipline because he loves me.

And I just want to say thank you. A million times, thank you, Curly. Thank you for letting me live my purpose. And thanks be to God for giving me a man who appreciates the importance of cultivating tiny love.