10 Things I want My Daughter to Know and Live Out in Her Life

Now, life finds us in October. We just celebrated Addisyn’s half birthday! Parenthood only gets sweeter, even with the increased sleepless nights…(yes… she’s waking up MORE now than ever during the night!) The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for our family. Justin continues to recover from his back surgery, we had our first celebration of my sister’s birthday with Addisyn. Addisyn is now eating quite the menu of foods! She now loves green beans, but does not care for applesauce. She is sitting on her own, mostly while propping herself up on her hands, and is getting a bit braver during tummy-time to push up on her legs. She has one tooth, and is full of giggles. Her 6 month stats make her growth chart right on track, she remains 40th percentile in weight at 15 lbs. 14 oz. and 79th percentile for height at 26.5 inches! We still have a tiny-domed daughter whose head size is only in the 20th percentile, we’ll blame that on her dad. 🙂

Aunt Mandi turned 32 in Heaven on September 29th. It was an emotional day, but as we both desire to make that a special day for Addisyn, we had cupcakes and balloons and sung Happy Birthday to Aunt Mandi. Undoubtedly, there will be many more bittersweet days like this, but I am determined to figure out how to handle these moments in a manner in which Addisyn sees God’s strength and faithfulness reflected in how I deal with my own grief, instead of the raw pain that exists there.

There are many things I want to teach my daughter, but mostly I want her to be herself. Sure I’ll start with teaching her things like the alphabet, but I hope to ultimately teach my daughter to be whoever she wants to be, and to truly live and love her life. Like most parents, I never desire to hold her back and greatly wish to enable her to discover, learn, and progress in her own manner. I want her to know that this world is her canvas, and that she doesn’t have to fit in. There are certain lessons our children inevitably have to learn on their own, but I hope with God’s help, my husband and I can raise a child who is unashamed of who she is, who loves God and life and is not afraid to just BE. Here’s a list of things I want my daughter to know:

1. God is GOOD. We serve a mighty Saviour. He, our Redeemer and Protector, sent His son to die for our sins. Right now, all you need to know is that He is good, He loves you, and He died so that you can have eternal life. In time your relationship with Him will grow. He alone sustains us and sets us free. Your walk with Christ will grow and change as you do, always hold tight to His love for you. Let your fire for Christ burn deeply all your life.

2. Do not be afraid. For the Lord is with you. Do not let fear hold you back. Fear is the culprit of many missed opportunities.  You will fall. You will fail. But you must not let the fear of this stop you from doing ANYTHING, because, you will always get back up. And, I will be there to help you.

3. Never Apologize for who YOU ARE. Always apologize if you have wronged someone, but NEVER apologize or compromise who you are. Be who you are. Like the things you like. Wear the things you want to wear, and never feel pressured to conform to this world’s style, standards, fads, etc. It is okay to just be YOU, in fact it is more than okay, it is BEAUTIFUL to just be you. May I, nor anyone else, ever put pressure on you to speak, look, or feel a certain way. This world is your canvas. Paint whatever picture you choose. Use all of the colors, mix it up and if you don’t like it, start over. Be YOU.

4. Have a passion.  Find something you love and do it. Find a hobby, and past time, a passion…for anything…and never lose it.  Learn a trade, perfect a skill, explore something completely new… whatever it is, if it makes you happy, get out there and do it! I will be cheering you on. If you want to be the ball player AND the ballerina, you’ll see me at every game and recital. If you find yourself to be the gymnast, the dancer, the artist, the musician, the poet, or none of these, it’s okay with me. But whatever you choose, your father and I will help you in any way we can to make sure you do what you LOVE. Just find something, in addition to God, and LOVE them both for your entire life.

5. Learn as much as you can. Never stop learning. Learn to LOVE learning. Be a student for your entire life. Learn to cook (like Nana!), learn to sew (like Mamaw!), learn to clean and care for others, learn to serve, learn to lead, learn to speak your mind without offending others, learn to crochet, learn to share, learn to accept, learn to FORGIVE, learn to let go, learn to move on. But first, we’ll work on things like learning to crawl, walk, talk, and read. Don’t worry, you’ll be great at it all.

6. You are MAGNIFICENT.  You are beautiful. You are God’s perfect creation… you are simply magnificent. There will be many times in your life where you don’t feel magnificent, or where life it’s self is less than phenomenal, but YOU, you will get through those times and will always know that you are created in His image, just as he desires for you to be.

7. Be courageous. Have the courage to try new things…big things, tough things, easy things, fun things, even scary things! Enjoy this life and live it to the fullest.

8. Know this: I love you, always. I love you… the end. Your father loves you… so much, I have desires for you, but please know that I have no expectations for you. You do not ever need to feel pressured to please your father or I, even though you do so often. Do not live your life with the intent to please anyone but God alone.

9. Life is unpredictable, but it is beautiful. There will be good days and bad. There will be wins and losses. You will win, but you will also lose. You will lose people, you will get hurt. (oh, the thought of this breaks my heart!) But you cannot live your life afraid of this (see number 2), because you will also love, laugh, smile, enjoy, and embrace. Laugh at your flaws and be thankful for your strengths. When you think you have it figured out, and you realize you don’t it’s okay. When your plans change, when you encounter a road block, when it seems to hard, it will be okay. You are strong, you will overcome. You will figure it out. You will be okay.

10. It’s okay to color OUTSIDE of the lines. In fact, the lines are boring. Be you. Be UNIQUE. Have dreams, have goals, have bigger dreams, and bigger goals. There are no limitations on what you can do, or who you can be, except those limitations you put on yourself. You are capable. He is capable. You will succeed at the work He puts before you. Dream BIG. Dance often. Life will give  you plenty of reasons to smile, take advantage of them. Go out there, and LIVE.

I’m sure as Addisyn grows, this list will change and grow as well. But for now, I look at my daughter and ask myself every day if I’m capable of being the mother she needs. As parents, we all worry about our children, but instead of worrying about how the dangers and threats of this world will affect my daughter, I choose to raise her where the world should be worried about the level of faith, strength, intelligence, and beauty she has.

Be blessed!