The Favor of God on Your Life

Dear Psalmie,

Sister, you need to know that the Favor of God is upon your life.  I've seen it innumerable times in the past couple of years, and in the past couple of weeks, specifically, and I wanted to record some ot these things here so you will never forget them.

When I'm talking about the Favor of God on your life, I'm talking about a "favor" He has given you with people, and in life in general.  God has His hand on your life--it's obvious, sis--and it's important to me that you understand that GOD is the one who has given you that favor.

I suppose, for me, when I saw it the most--and most shockingly, perhaps--was the summer of 2013, the one we spent in Florence, Italy.   It was incredible to me to watch His hand upon you.  People were drawn to you in unusual ways.  In Italy, an elderly woman got up to give you her seat on the public tram (she was ELDERLY, and you were not yet 5 years old!); a street vendor GAVE you a toy, free of charge; the nuns who worked in their store next to the Duomo (we frequented the store during our stay in Florence) WROTE YOUR NAME DOWN before we left so they could pray for you.  They also gave you an incredible FREE gift, a pendant of Mother Mary, the Miracle Mary pendant that Mother Teresa famously gave out to people.  Sis, they loved you everywhere we went.

This year, too, I see the favor of God on your life.  At Camp Bravo, out of several other students, you were chosen as the outstanding member of your group. (And you MISSED the first day of camp because you were sick with an ear infection and I had to take you to the doctor!).   At our PFA VBS, you were chosen for a game one night, the outstanding student of the group the next night, and you WON one the scooter for your group in a drawing.  (You only had your name entered once--because you brought your cousin Whittany with you to the VBS.  Sis, you only had ONE SLIP and it was the one drawn.)

These are just a few of the things on my mind to tell you.  But I wanted to tell you:  if you follow The Lord and His precepts, to the very best of your ability, His favor will continue to rest upon you.  I pray, always, that it will rest upon you for the duration of this life and in the one to come (when we meet Jesus). 

One word of caution, if I may:  Don't take His favor for granted.  THANK HIM every day for it.  Thank Him for EVERYTHING:  provision, protection, blessings, favor.  HE IS THE SOURCE, SIS.  Hang on to His hand all the days of your life.  He will BLESS YOUR LIFE, I can promise you that.  And I can say that because I've seen it from the beginning:  He is all over your life.  He has set you apart, and that means that He calls you His own.  He has plans for your life, sis, and the Bible says they are GOOD! (Jeremiah 29:11).

I love you, and I love that you love Jesus.  Never let go of His heart.

Love, Mommy

P.S.  Having the Favor of God on your life does not mean you will be perfect, or make all of the right decisions.  Just, please, if you mess up, DON'T GIVE UP.  Just do what the Bible tells us to do in I John 1:9:  "If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  This verse tells us that we must always keep the lines of communication open with Jesus.  We must talk to Him, even about what we have done wrong.  Don't hide things or keep secrets.  (He knows what we've done, anyway.)  Just talk to Him. Tell Him you messed up, and exactly what that sin/"mess up" was.  If we "repent"/confess, the Bible tells us He WILL forgive us.  No matter what it is that we've done, if we're sincere and serious about our regret, He will hear us and forgive us. AND cleanse us--meaning, He makes it right again.  Sis, it's important not to just flippantly say, "I'm sorry," but to get before The Lord and truly apologize for our wrong-doing.  (And our intent, when we apologize is to NEVER mess up again!)  When our hearts are right before The Lord, repentance is something we WILLINGLY do, we want to do, because we want to be in right standing with The Lord. And, sissy, there is NOTHING like being in right standing with The Lord.  You can hear Him and feel Him and know Him soooooooo strongly, sooooooooo tangibly.  I wish everyone knew the relationship they could have with our Lord.   That's why we must tell them.  

I love you. 

Your Kindergarten Graduation

Dear Psalm,

You graduated last night, from Kindergarten. And I held it together, I did.

You'd asked me, the day before, "Momma, are you gonna cry at my graduation?" (I had told you I'd try not to, but I couldn't make any promises.)

I didn't cry. At least outwardly.

At one point, watching the video that your teacher had put together, I thought I was going to "lose it," I felt the tears welling up...

And then I had the good sense to turn and look at you.

There you were, in the back row, laughing and talking to your friends, with a huge grin plastered on your face. You weren't concerned in the least about what was going on, about the Mammoth Moment I thought this was. No, you were happy, so happy, that I felt the tears receding. I suddenly didn't feel the need to indulge in my selfish moment of nostalgia.

Because this was Your Moment--and you were obviously HAPPY in this moment.

Smiling to myself, I held the camera up and tried again to get a picture of you smiling, laughing, smiling.

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I love you so, darling. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration to me.

I'm proud of you--so very proud of you.

Love, Mommy

I Love You, Sis

I just wanted to tell you that I love you so very much, Sissy.  Right now, you're lying by my side, your dolly next to you, snoring softly.  

You are five and a half years old now, and I know that you won't want or need to be by my side like this for much longer, but I just have to say that I cherish these moments with you.

I love you, Psalmie.  Always and Forever.

Love, 

Mommy

"I Told My Friends at School That Jesus Lives in My Heart"

A little over a week ago, we were driving back from an evening dinner at Red Lobster. Seemingly out of nowhere, you started telling your daddy and me about a theological discussion you had had on the playground at school.

"I told my friends at school that Jesus lives in my heart," you said.

"You did? That's awesome, sis!" I said, truthfully taken aback by the declaration.

"Yes. But Kylie said that Jesus is everywhere."

"Yes, Jesus is everywhere," I said, trying to agree with you.

But this isn't what you wanted to hear. You got mildly irate, then, and started adamantly telling me: "Kylie said Jesus is everywhere but I told her that, no, Jesus lives in our hearts!"

I could tell you were upset about this conversation you had had with Kylie and I breathed a prayer that The Lord would direct me in what to say to you.

"Psalmie, Jesus IS everywhere, but we have to invite him to live in our hearts."

"Oh," you said. "Well, Zane said he doesn't believe in Jesus."

"He doesn't?!" I felt my heart drop. I couldn't believe there was a child in kindergarten, in your class, who didn't know that Jesus was REAL.

"Oh, sissy," I said. "You and Kylie need to tell Zane about Jesus."

"We will, Momma," you said. "We will tell him tomorrow."

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Psalmie, I don't know when you will read this blog, if ever, with adult eyes, but I wanted to talk to you about some important truths related to this real-life conversation between us.

1. Grown ups argue about doctrines like you and Kylie did about where Jesus lived. Both you and Kylie were right, you just didn't know it. As you grow older, you will realize that Christians argue about all sorts of things like this--and, sis, while we're arguing, there are people, like Zane, who need to know Jesus. Don't get caught up in the doctrinal arguments, sis. Not much, if anything, is ever accomplished by them. Focus on Christ and letting your light shine.

2. Grown ups also try to complicate "Spreading the Gospel of Christ"--but, sis, I hope you never lose the approach you have now. You just simply say what matters--that Jesus lives in our hearts (if we ask him to)--without having to memorize awkward pre-written statements or verses. Witnessing to others, letting your light shine? It's all about keeping it real, keeping it simple. Don't let people convince you otherwise.

P.S. I guess you DID talk to Zane the next day. When I picked you up from school, you told me that Zane said Jesus lived in California. After you told me that, I said, "Well, that's a start!"

Watching FROZEN with you

Right now, we are lying side by side in my bed with our iPads. You are singing along with Anna and Elsa, and I am enjoying every second of this time with you. I just HAD to record this, write it down, so I could remember this, so you could remember this, one day.

You have your stuffed dolly, Doc McStuffins, cradled in your right arm, and you're frustrated because you can't get the subtitles to come on so you can read along with the dialogue and songs.

I love hearing you sing all of the songs on this soundtrack. You learned them so quickly! I love how you sing them loudly and with feeling. I think one of my favorites you sing is, "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" and "Let It Go." When you sing them, you sing them as loud as you can and with feeling. I love it, sissy.

Tonight has been one of those nights when I can't help but notice how grown up you are, how quickly time is passing by, how much I wish I could just "Pause" times like these...

I love you, Psalmie. We've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to write to you on your blog. But I want you to know that your mommy loves you, Psalmie. With all of her heart. Always and forever.

Love you, darling girl,
Mommy

You Read a Book to Me This Morning

There you were, this morning, reading.

You came holding a little paper book they had printed at school. "Momma," you said, "You need to sign this!" And I know by now that what that means is that I'm to review something and verify that I have reviewed it, seen it. When I saw the book in your hands, I knew you were to read it to me.

"Okay," I said. "Go ahead and read it to me and then I'll sign it!"

You read the title page and opened the little paper book with care. And then you started reading.

When did you learn how to read?!? Since when are kindergartners reading books in their first half of their year?!? Was I reading this soon?!?!

You read with confidence. You knew the words. You followed each one with your finger.

I think it was about a child going to the library. But I really couldn't focus because I was too busy watching you read.

I couldn't help but stare at your continually morphing profile. You there, with your glasses, downwardly gazing onto the page. I watched your nose, as it held your beautiful little glasses, how it bobbed ever so slightly as your mouth opened and closed. And then your mouth...

Since when did you start forming words like this on your own? You are reading lines, not haltingly, as if you are just learning words, but, rather, like you've known them all along.

When did this happen?!? When did you get so grown up?

And then you were finished and you looked up at me with your expectant look--and you could see Mommy was proud of you. I saw the corners of your mouth pull into a wide smile when I applauded you and told you over and over what a smart girl you are.

And you are, Psalm. You are, already, such a smart girl.

I am amazed by you, but I often don't get any length of time to enjoy that amazement I have of you...because you are continually doing fabulous, wondrous new things.

When you saw my pleasure at your reading performance, you said quickly, "Mommy, get a pen so you can sign it!"

And when I did, you had to hold it proudly, all the way to school, so you could deliver it, as you were asked, to your teacher.

You are a darling little girl. Not so little, anymore, I'm afraid. I just want you to know, Psalmie, that I am so very proud of you. SO. VERY. PROUD. OF. YOU.

I love you, darling girl, always and forever,

Mommy

I Love Your New Look!

Dear Sissy,

I love your new look!

Last week, we picked up your first pair of glasses--and you've been wearing those adorable Hello Kitty frames every day since!

You look adorable, and I love watching you in them!

Daddy said that you remarked, on your first morning headed to school with them on, about how you could see the trees and clouds so much better!

I'm so glad you can SEE!

Thankfully, the school did an eye screening and determined that you were in need of glasses. Daddy and I had no idea you needed them and were slightly shocked when they sent home a paper suggesting we get your eyes tested by an optometrist. When we saw the optometrist, it didn't take long for him to confirm your need for glasses.

I have heard stories from parents saying that they didn't realize their child had massive vision problems until they were in junior high or high school. Can you imagine not being able to see the details of the land and sky? Can you imagine years of missing that?

I'm so glad we did this NOW! I'm so glad that you didn't go for years, unable to see. I'm so glad that you were given a test, and that people cared enough to tell us that you couldn't see!

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Spiritually, sissy, it is my prayer for you this morning that you do not wait years to "SEE" your need for our Lord Jesus Christ. It is my sincere hope that you will realize your need for Him early, as early as possible, and be able to live more of your life SEEING the details, what is truly important, living life to the FULLEST!

He has so much to show you! There is so much to SEE!

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I love you, darling. And I am so proud of you.

Always,
Mommy