The Legacy We Leave Behind

This will be my last post on "SLI" but let me just say that I have learned so much from reading it. Beth, as always, does a phenomenal job relating to all women, no matter where you are in your life or your circumstances. So many moments that made me stop, think, pray, and want to change things about the way I am living day to day.

So, I decided to write about my daughter tonight. In one of the chapters, Beth writes about how we, as mothers, really affect our daughters in relation to her own insecurities. Man, if nothing makes you want to change your views on insecurity, thinking about how you might pass on your own warped views of yourself and others onto your child, whew! I cannot imagine raising a daughter in the times we live in without God's help!

My daughter is five years old and going to kindergarten in the fall (sniff, sniff). I just attended kindergarten round-up tonight with her, and she is beyond excited to go to the "big" school with her brother next year. As she pranced around the school, taking pictures of the teachers, the principal, the bus, and the library, I thought, "Man, I can't believe how comfortable and confident she is! Praise God that she got some of her Daddy's genes in that area." (When I was her age, I was pretty shy and very anxious about attending a new school!)

She is brimming with innocent, wonderful expectations about how school will be for her. My thoughts: How will I keep this attitude going when she is 10, 12, and 15 years old? How can I cultivate that confidence in who she is, inside and out? How can make her understand that God created her, knowing her even BEFORE she was created, knowing that she has a unique purpose in His plan? That He loves her NO MATTER WHAT. Even more than her father and I love her. And that no one can ever change that. EVER.

That is the challenge for us moms with daughters, especially. (not to leave out boys, because we definitely leave an impact on their perception of women as well.) But girls.... Yes, I want to be strong for my daughter and show her security, as a woman, a wife, a mother, a friend, and a child of God. I will do it for her.

"She will have no fear of bad news, her heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. her heart is secure, she will have no fear, in the end she will look in triumph of her foes". Psalm 112:7-8