Five Minute Friday: She

She was handed to me in all her red-skinned, wrinkly, bald, wailing glory, and I fell hard.  She sniffled, suckled, and looked up at me with those eyes.  She and I struggled through the beginning of this brand new relationship, but every day I found myself more in love.  I told my mother I wished she would stay little forever.  My mother, in her wisdom, reminded me of all I would miss if she never grew up, how every stage was sure to bring unique blessings.

And then, as if I had a choice, I watched her grow.

She learned to sit, to crawl, to walk, to dance.  She learned to colour pictures of flowers and clouds, to shape playdough.  She learned to love a little brother, even when he felt more like an intruder than a friend.  She learned to talk to God, and standing in awe under a star-filled sky found that he could talk to her as well.  She learned read, to add and subtract, to ride a two-wheeler, to sail on a scooter.

Though there were times that just maybe I questioned whether she would live to see adolescence, she blossomed a lovely young lady.

She is a faithful friend, a curious student, an ambitious high-achiever, a skilled musician, a comfortable introvert, a deep thinker.  She is a loving sister, even though he gets on her nerves.  She has embraced the unpleasantness of adolescence and its joys with equal grace.  She leans on the arms of Jesus, and her thoughtfulness and insight blesses me.

At times, though the laundry piles up and the requests for assistance are frequent, though I must give one more reminder to complete the chores and am asked to answer strings of deep questions when she really should be going to sleep, I must remind myself to embrace the unique blessings of today.

In His strength she has the capacity to dream, to discover, to pursue, to achieve. As she walks in faith, she daily has the choice to believe, to bring joy, to bless.  

And I watch in a near-holy anticipation as she continues to venture down the path of becoming.

Linking up with Lisa Jo Baker and her Five Minute Friday crowd.  Click on the button above to find out more, read more entries, or join in the fun.