How Beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring Good News...

5/30/13 First LAST day of school

I was reading an article someone had written about their strong-willed child, and I love what she penned.  She basically said this:

Strong willed children often turn out to be leaders who are not swayed by peer pressure...their passion can become compassion and their stubbornness persistence. They will be fearless in tackling the causes they care about...

I was thinking of how I'm often told that I'm "paying for my raising" regarding dealing with my very high-spirited, dramatic, and strong-willed daughter.  But I really don't like the negative connotations that follow the label of a "strong-willed" child, because it's not really so much what personality traits your child has as it is about how you guide and develop those traits.  So, rather than label her as a "strong-willed child," I like to use the word, "determined."  You see, if I could explain Lucy in one word, it would be passionate. Whatever she does, she does it with passion--that can mean she is passionately excited about something, passionately happy about something, or passionately MAD about something!  She is either all into something, or she could absolutely care less.  It takes a lot of determination to live life with passion.  You don't give up or give in easily, or really at all; it's all or nothing.

Nonnie Snuggles

We have had a pretty full past few weeks.  Lucy got to play with some friends after school one day last week and even had a sleepover with one of them on a school night!  She had so much fun and we were so thankful for sweet and giving friends.  The next day, Nonnie and Opie came in for a visit:)  Let me tell you, we had one HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY little girl on our hands! 

Opie Fun

(And, of course, little GP just loved all of the sweet Nonnie snuggles and fun Opie games:)  But after a weekend filled with several "ice cream with Opie" dates and "Ok, you can stay up just a little bit longer" nights, we have ended up with one very MOODY 5 year old, let me tell ya!  She got in a much-needed afternoon nap and then was able to run off some crazy exhausted-energy (parents, you know the kind of energy I'm talking about, right?  The kind where they're so tired that they go extra crazy out of fear if they stop they might actually fall asleep and miss out on something.) at Sunday's Graduation Cookout at the church after the Baccalaureate service. 

Enjoying the cookout at church after Baccalaureate

I almost got into it with her over her taking her shoes off and then I thought, ya know, is it really the end of the world for her to run around in the grass and on the playground with no shoes on?  I mean, I used to do the same thing when I was a kid, so why am I being so anal about it?  So, I set germaphobe tendencies aside for the evening and decided her happy feet were more important than being a stick-in-the-mud-mommy, and I watched a very happy girl play away and away and away...until she finally made her way back to me with almost unrecognizable feet!  I'm not exaggerating at all when I tell you it was the dirtiest I think I have ever seen my child--EVER!  Her feet were literally covered in BLACK (from the playground rubber and just from dirt in general...and who really knows what all else!)  Her nails and fingernails were caked with dirt, and her face showed the signs of an evening filled with sno cones and Doritos.  But you know what else she was covered in?  The biggest smile, because she had literally played out there with everything she had (well, and DIDN'T have on, too, I guess!;-)  She had played without abandon...she had played with passion...she had played with a determination to enjoy everything surrounding her and just.have.fun.

jumping for joy!

After we got home, I carried her straight to the bathtub and scrubbed and scrubbed and SCRUBBED away at those dirty little piggies!  All of a sudden, she said, "Mom, LOOK!  My feet are brand new now!"  Yes, as we had washed the dirt away, her feet certainly did look brand new.  I know it's kind of a cheesy parallel, but I just smiled to myself as I thought how that's exactly what Christ does for us.  We find ourselves living passionately for the wrong things sometime, and we end up right in the dirt, but God comes alongside us and washes all of that away.  He doesn't just cover it up to try to make it match up to a specific appearance. No, He makes us into something entirely brand new!  It makes me ask myself, Where are my feet traveling today?  Are they passionately following their own path, or are they passionately stepping out in faith to follow Jesus?  I pray that my children will see the latter from me, and that my daughter's passionate lifestyle will be transformed into a passion for the ways of the Lord...

5/30/13: LAST day of pre-k

One thing I've prayed daily for Lucy this school year is that she would live up to her name of being a light-bringer.  But not just someone who brings encouragement to others, but someone who actually shares THE light--God's light--with the world around her.  I've prayed daily for God to protect her--mentally, physically, and spiritually--throughout this school year.  I've experienced a small taste of what it means to start letting go by letting God take control of what is already His in the first place.  I've watched her precious feet jump out of the car every morning at around 7:57AM to walk (and sometimes run) excitedly into the school building.  As she did that this morning, on her FIRST last day of school, I couldn't help but feel a BIT sentimental that she's growing up so quickly, and a BUNCH thankful for God's hand in her life thus far.  Even though the school year has ended and I will no longer see her feet run excitedly towards her daily pre-k adventures, I will still pray that God will guide her feet to walk in a newness of life that only He can offer...

Lucy's FIRST 1st day of school: 8/27/2012

Lucy's LAST 1st day of school: 5/30/2013

Isaiah 52:7:
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"