Vanishing...

Thinking about how fast time flies and how fleeting life on earth is...

as I was watching Baby Girl tenderly hold, then hug and kiss her baby doll, I remember so vividly watching the first girl to ever call me Mommy (my former step-daughter Heather) do the same thing over 30 years ago. I now have another daughter, 17 year old Taylor - soon to be adopted... Leah will be 3 this year, & Heather will be 33!

My parenting is similar in some ways now as it was then...

I still long for both my girls to know and love Jesus with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

I still want them to know how deeply loved they are by the God who created them.

I want them to cherish, memorize, study, live by and cling to God's word.

I want them to experience His grace every day and to repent quickly.

I want their life to be full of worship and songs of praise,

I want them to walk in the Spirit, to live a life totally surrendered to Jesus Christ, and to know the joy that only comes from a close walk with Him.

I've changed though when it comes to some other things...

I don't want my perfectionism faults to rub off, I want her to relax more,

I don't want my insecurities to draw her away from an identity rooted in what's true, not other people's perceptions,

I don't want her to be a people-pleaser, but instead a God-pleaser,

I don't want her to have a prideful Mom, that's slow to admit faults and ask for forgiveness,

I don't want her to be more concerned with a clean room than she is with a clean heart,

And I don't want her to miss out on an abundant spiritual life, because of too much focus on the physical and what's only temporary!

I pray this time around, I'll pray more and worry less, that I'll focus on building strong character and faith, and that I'll always point her to Christ and His sufficiency, not only when things are going great but especially when times are tough and also when I fail her!

"Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." James 4:14

#LifeHereIsShort #PrepareThemForEternity