My baby is 16 today...the one who made me a mom.
It's hard to believe and time just keeps not standing still. And though I'd sometimes like to bottle up the minutes that equate to passing time, the truth is this becoming best friends with our older children thing is a precious gift I enjoy unwrapping more and more.
She and me, we dream together like girlfriends do, about how we'll be neighbors someday. We laugh at the same jokes
and give just the right glance across a crowded room as if to say, I get it...Even if no one else does, I do.
Priceless, this gift of a daughter I celebrate today with joy!
Aida, when I reflect upon the woman of God you've become, I feel incredibly blessed that He has given me the friend in you He has. We walk through life together, thorns and all, and cling to Him as a team. We encourage each other in complementary ways and mesh beautifully not because we're exactly alike, but because our differences feel like the body of Christ.
"For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."
Romans 12:4-5
"From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped,
when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."
Ephesians 4:16
Yes, I see this lived out, how the body of Christ is comprised of many unique and vital parts, each serving differing roles and it works.
The Lord has taught me so much through you, Aida, and I thank you, not only as your mom, but simply as your friend today, for how you encourage me and spur me on. You're wise well beyond your 16 years, my dear daughter...always have been.
"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."
Proverbs 31:25-27
Aida, when I read through Proverbs 31, not only these, but most of the verses sound like the woman you're becoming. I can see your maturity and spiritual growth in a way that feels like graduation to the next step. My heart trusts you and you've earned that through prayer and dedication. When I think back to younger years and consider how you've grown in the Lord, it is clear that the Holy Spirit is at work in your heart. You aren't perfect, but you care to be repentant and strive for holiness when you've missed a mark. You honestly try and desire to please God and your parents. You're humble in heart, correctable, self-controlled with your tongue, poised, hard working, obedient, respectful, tactful, responsible, wise, willing, strong, incredibly discerning, talented, industrious, faithful, generous, God-fearing, trustworthy, organized, minimal, not to mention super fun and a great cook! Darling, you're amazingly well-rounded!
Sweet 16.
I'm amazed at the woman of God who shares this home with me. I really am. And to get to "do life" together with you for as many days as the Lord allows is so beyond what I could have imagined those 16 years ago today. Blessed is how I feel. Truly blessed.
Thank you, Lord, for Aida! Thank you for who she is and who she is becoming. I lift her future before you with great hope as I see her blossoming into the next season of life before my mother's eyes, ready for adulthood in ways we just don't always see (or expect) these days for teens and it's...beautiful. Just like her. I praise you, Jesus, for how you have worked in Aida's life and for how she desires to please you. Thank you for that amazing grace I see displayed so poignantly in her! You're a good God!
Happy Sweet 16 to my firstborn.
I love you, Aida, and I am SO very proud of you!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."
Proverbs 31:30
