3 Years of Grace

You don't realize what the true definition of Grace is until you have someone or something challenge everything you once knew about what it's meaning.  Nothing in this life has made me better understand the love and forgiveness and patience that Christ extends to me quite like parenting my darling now 3-year-old.  I didn't realize this would be the case when I named her.  I hadn't had children yet, so clearly I had parenting all figured out.

And here she is.  All 3 years of her.

She reminds me of one of my favorite poems, Eleven by Sandra Cisneros.  And not because she smells like corn.  But because although she's 3, she's also clearly still 2, and 1, and a baby.

She still gets up in the night the way she did as a baby some nights.

She still wants snuggled and held the way she did when she was 1.

She still throws knock down drag out tantrums the way she did when she was 2.  

I still look at her and can't believe she's really mine the way I did when she was a baby.

I still marvel over all the new things she is learning the way I did when she was 1.

I still pray for grace and understanding in my parenting the way I did when she was 2.

This child is going to do amazing things with her life.  I don't think she will ever be a kid who wants to sit down and work at something tedious for a long stretch of time.  She is extremely creative and I can't wait to see what she does with that.  I know that she will have to pick a husband who loves animals and will let her have a million pets unlike her mean old parents.  She will have to work her whole life at controlling her impulsive nature.  Her house will never be clean.  If it is I will be shocked, and she will be assigned to cleaning my house the rest of her natural life to make up for the quantity of messes I have had to take care of.  She is a stubborn persister with every fiber of her being and it will either serve her well or be her greatest stumbling block.

She answered some questions for me while wearing 3 pairs of underwear and no pants, her favorite attire.

Who is your best friend?  Ally Rae

What is your favorite color?  Purple and green

What is your favorite animal? Tigers, polar bears, and horses

What is your favorite thing to do?  Going to the park and watching movies

What is your favorite thing to wear?  Flowers

What is your favorite food?  Bacon

What is your favorite TV show?  Dinosaur Train and Calliou

What is your favorite thing to do in Iowa?  Play with Abby

What is your favorite thing to do with daddy?  Run fast

What is your favorite thing to do with mommy?  Dance and cook

What should I tell people about you on my blog?  That.  I want to play with this (walks away with my camera).

My prayer for you my beautiful girl is that God would give you 

a soft heart so that you see your need for Him, 

a strong mind so that you can face what He puts in your path, 

and a kind spirit so that you exude Him and can show grace to everyone you come in contact with.  

May you be like the orphan who can find mercy in Him alone.