5 months ago on a beautiful, hot, summer day, I was extremely happy to find a positive sign on a pregnancy test that I had just taken. I couldn’t even believe my eyes! It was a miracle! It was my miracle!! I had to take a second test to verify the special news. Later that evening, I surprised my husband and let him know about the little peanut growing inside me. His reaction was PRICELESS! He was so happy to find out that he was going to be a daddy! I was equally as happy. That day has changed our life forever.
Fast forward to a month ago. We decided to find out the gender of our sweet little baby so that we could talk to it often and think about the future we would want to help give it. We had a friend fill balloons with paint and we had to pop the balloons to find out the gender! After several tries, we finally popped the right balloon as purple paint spewed everywhere. Again, our joy was immeasurable! Heavenly Father was blessing us with a beautiful baby girl- the miracle that our little family needed right now!
As we have been preparing for parenthood, Isaac and I have talked a lot about what we want to teach our baby girl. We want to teach her how to speak and read fluently in two different languages. We want to teach her to love reading and learning. We want her to find hobbies that she is passionate about. We want to teach her to be emotionally independent and how to manage her emotions. We want to help her be as successful as she can be. We want to teach her to be faithful and to love and serve others. We want to help her be outgoing and uplifting. This list goes on and on.
I am sure that all parents go through this- thinking about the future of their little peanut and wanting and wishing for the best life possible for their little one.
Out of all of the many things that we can and will teach our precious baby girl, I think it really comes down to 2 main things- the most important things.
- She is a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves her more than anything. His love is unconditional and he is always there for her.
I think one of the reasons that this is SO important is because our IDENTITY is so critical for our success in life. “The greatest search of our time is the search for personal identity and for human dignity” (Howard Hunter). Sometimes the search for personal identity is a life long pursuit. However, it is a critical one because it gives us a purpose. It shapes the foundation of our life and everything we do.
I want my daughter to know her identity as our daughter, of course. But more importantly, as a daughter of God. She is in fact His daughter and has been way longer than she will be mine or my husband’s. I am so happy and blessed that I get to be her mother and claim her for this short period of time that we call life. I’ll forever be grateful that my Heavenly Father trusted me enough to watch over and protect his precious little one. But if I am truly to help her be successful and help her build the sturdiest, strongest foundation for her life, I HAVE to teach her who she is. I HAVE to help her understand her identity.
She is God’s Beautiful Daughter.
That knowledge and identity will carry her so far in life. If she knows that she is His, she will always walk through life trusting in Him. She will love and cherish the relationship that she has with others, because she will cherish her relationship with Him. She will seek to spread happiness and joy, because she will find that through Him. I couldn’t give her a better gift than by giving her the gift of knowing, truly knowing, who she is.
2. Jesus Christ is her Savior.
I recently read through all of the titles and names that Jesus Christ is given in all the forms of scripture. There are over 50 something names for this one man. They vary from savior to wonderful, to lamb of God. They range from carpenter to mediator, to wisdom. Each name is specific to a role that he plays in each of our lives. I asked friends on social media to share with me who he is for them. They replied with love, savior, friend, redeemer, brother, example, rock, and strength.
I then began to ponder the question “Who is Jesus Christ to me?” and “Why do I want my daughter to know who He is?”
Jesus Christ to me is love. He is Hope when my world is crashing down around me. He is Peace when I feel nothing but fear or doubt. He is Strength when I am weak. He is my Joy! He is my deliverer when I am stuck and alone. He is Forgiveness when I fail to always follow him. He is my brother and my best friend. He literally saves me every single day. I don’t know who I would be if I didn’t know my Savior.
I want my daughter to grow up knowing that she is NEVER alone. I want her to grow up knowing that she can always turn to Him for peace, love, hope, strength, deliverance, and healing. She will be able to find some of these qualities in my husband and I. However, she’s going to be independent and on her own someday. She won’t always have us by her side. But she WILL always have Him by her side. That knowledge is life changing. I want knowing more than for her to believe in Him, know Him and love Him.
One of the main ways that children learn is by looking at the example of their parents. You can tell them anything you want to, but they will mostly learn by looking at your actions rather than listening to your words. I have been thinking a lot about what I want to teach my little baby girl and I know that I have to LIVE what I want her to learn.
These two most important life lessons are life-long lessons on a roller coaster ride. There are moments when I know and feel 100% that I am a daughter of God. There are also moments when I doubt and am not perfect at remembering who I am. There are times when Jesus Christ is a part of every single thing I do in life. Then there are moments when I forget to include Him or strengthen my relationship with him.
However, I have a new-found determination to make sure these 2 life lessons are always on the top of my priority list. They bring my life more clarity, happiness and light. And I want my children to be able to see the clarity, happiness and light in my life because of the way that I choose to live. I want them to know that they can have that in their lives too.
I am a daughter of a loving Heavnely Father who never gives up on me and who is always there!
I have a Savior who is at the center of everything I do in my life because He chose to give His life for mine!
And this brings me immense JOY!
Come What May and LOVE it!! 