Cherish These Days.

Rebekah is actually 16 years old today... Wow. She is going to be a Junior in High School this year and is lusting after a learner's permit so she can get behind the wheel of a gasoline-powered death trap. This summer she had a three-week vacation of her own in Florida with friends and then flew home with Kate- all without me holding her hand...

My little family has grown up so very fast. I used to hate it when old ladies in the grocery store would look at my little ones strapped into the cart and hanging onto my hands and say, "cherish these days, because they'll be grown before you know it". "Oh please," I used to think, "it's taking forever"! Now I'm the old lady who has earned the right to say that to young moms I see in the stores, their future clinging to their hands and crying for candy in the check-out lane.

The time has flown. I have one definitely out of the nest, another teetering on the edge, (with a fiance' ready to catch her!!!) two teenagers, and a ten year-old who surprises me every day with his non-baby behaviors and comments! Our family is still growing, but in the direction of in-laws now.

My middle child, my first blue-eyed blondie, with the angelic little smile and the gift for mischievousness beyond imagination is now taller than me. Her blonde curls darkened as she aged and she has colored them so many different colors,... cut them all off... sniff. She has always had a strong determination and a mind of her own. This used to find expression through painting the entire bathroom with toothpaste or maintaining a stoic countenance while on the receiving end of the wooden spoon.


Now at times her inner strength shows by her choices going in the exact opposite direction that Jim and I would like to see, while at other times she tenaciously hangs onto her family and beliefs. Her strength has scared me when expressed in ways that seem opposed to my own dreams for her, but it will be priceless for her when she is faced with pressures and influences once she is away from us. Her chosen field of the culinary arts chews people up and spits them out if they are weak in any way. God knew what he was doing when he gave her that iron core...


I pray that she would find her own faith in Christ, not merely what her parents believe, but a conviction out of which no alluring philosophy can ever beguile her. Being born into the middle of such a boisterous crowd could have drowned her. I pray that it has given her a sense of belonging and strategies for keeping her head above the waves. She shares many loves with me; reading, great food, quirky humor. I pray that we will always have a common ground where we can meet and understand one another.

You are beautiful Baby; never forget that you are loved, not only by your family who would die for you, but by One who already has...