The last time I babysat my almost-three-year-old nephew Caleb, he did something I’ll never forget. He said my name. I know for you veteran moms and grandmas reading this it may not sound like anything new. There are days you probably hear your name called more times than you’d like. But this day was special.

Caleb has been able to say my name “on cue” for quite a while now. His momma points to a picture and says, “Who’s that?” and he dutifully replies, “Bon-nie” (two words when he says it). He learned to recognize my picture or my presence long ago.

But this time, it was different. This time I was standing in a doorway, watching him play in one room while listening to a conversation in the other. All of a sudden, he stopped playing, walked over to me, and said, “Bon-nie, come.” Then he repeated it.

He’d said my name because he wanted to spend time with me. I guarantee you, I went immediately! There was no place on earth I would have rather been at that moment than playing with him because he wanted me to.

I can’t help but wonder if our Heavenly Father ever feels that way. Sure, we know His Name and say it often in prayers. We can repeat many prayers almost on cue, saying the words dutifully as we have many times before. But how His heart must skip to hear us call His Name because we want to spend time with Him, because we want to be with our Father and Friend in that sacred moment.

And in that moment, and for all eternity, there is nowhere else He’d rather be.