I’ve been thinking a lot lately.

Not to imply that I don’t normally think because I do! But lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about parenting girls. Well, specifically about me as a parent to my girls, wondering what they see and who they will remember.

You see, my Mom is turning 60. I remember when my grandmother turned 60. My mother and her siblings planned an intimate family gathering for her. It was a memorable and special occasion as we celebrated this milestone in her life. She’s now 81.

When we celebrated my grandmother’s 60^th I was just a little girl. Now here we are. I have 4 little girls of my own. Approaching this same milestone in my mother’s life has me thinking about just that. Her life through my eyes. The eyes of her little girl.

I want my girls to see in me, what I see in her.

Often, we tell our girls to be a reflection of Christ, which we should, but the reality is when they look into the rearview mirror they will inevitably see glimpses of us. Their moms.

So who will they see?

When I was a little girl I remember riding with my mother picking up young moms with babies from bus stops in the rain and giving them a ride to their destination.

I saw compassion.

I can recall conversations with strangers in the mall and prayers with cashiers in the grocery store.

I saw kindness.

She spoke of co-workers who had treated her unkindly without apology with the same amount of love that she spoke of her best friend.

I saw Forgiveness. 

If you met my mother today, she would greet you with a hug and if you happened to compliment her on her necklace, she would try to give it to you.

I see Love.

I grew up with very little.

I saw contentment.

There were numerous reasons to have doubts and fear.

I saw Faith and Trust.

And if I am honest, as a little girl I had no idea what I was looking at.

These noted memories were not simply individual acts, they were a lifestyle. I saw a life that sought after the heart of Christ. It was normal. It was expected.

It is now appreciated.

Lord,

I pray that my girls not only know what compassion, kindness, love and forgiveness is, but that they have a vision of what it looks like. I pray that you help me to teach my girls what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ but even more than that, I pray that you help me to a live a life that shows them. Not because they are watching, but because You are working. I pray that my life, my attitude, my words and my actions create visions of your love and memories of Your work in my life. Let my girls see You in me. Let their memories of me today lead them to Your love forever.