Coming of Age

Angie, you've arrived!!

You've finally made it to the ripe old age of 13. The age of legal access to your soon-to-be social media obsession with Facebook and Instagram. The age in which you think you'll be allowed to watch PG-13 movies. The year when you add "teen" onto the end of your age, symbolizing your departure from childhood and entry into adolescence and adulthood. Many expect this birthday to be accompanied by a declining attitude from sweet and loving to sassy and disrespectful, but we know you're very advanced and so instead of spiraling down into pubescence, we expect you to make a full recovery and rejoin us on the other side of that valley any day now. 

Although, you've been well on your way to womanhood for three years, I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of my visions for your future, as this birthday, although just an arbitrary day, is a sentimental coming-of-age celebration.

For this, your 14th year on our lovely earth, I pray that you will continue to grow in the bravery it took for you to go to middle school camp without knowing anyone else there. It's my prayer that you will use the courage it took you to conquer the mega-zipline to stand up for others when it's not easy. As an eighth grader, I pray you'll stick up for the timid little sixth graders, and set an example for your peers of how to defend the helpless and look out for interests beyond your own. This would be a bold feat rarely achieved at the fragile self-protective age of 13, but if anyone is strong enough to do it, you are.

At 18, I dream that your strong-willed personality will have turned from a nuisance for your parents into a gift that's helped you stand up to peer pressure throughout high school, and influence others for good instead of allowing them to influence you. I dream that this same strength will have kept you on the honor roll, not because we pushed you or even cared about your grades, but because you decided to give everything your best effort from schoolwork, to tennis, to friendships. And that when you graduate from high school you will be remembered not for the color of your skin, your exotic accent, or your gorgeous hair, but for your compassion, your honesty, and your integrity.

In your 20's, I hope that you will find happiness. Not that happiness is the meaning of life, but it sure is the icing on the cupcake. I hope that you will play sports in college to make lifelong friends and to continue to build your character through hard work. I hope that you will decide on a career that brings you fulfillment whether it's lucrative or not. I hope you will be pursued by a man who recognizes he is being pursued by his heavenly Father, and that this man will help you to understand God's love for you better than you ever have. And because I wish I'd found my husband sooner and had even more time with him, I hope that in your 20's I will have the delight of watching you dance with your daddy again, this time at your wedding instead of his.

In your 30's, I would love to become a grandmother. I would love nothing more than to snuggle your beautiful darlings and admire your God-given mothering expertise in full bloom. I see you with your baby brother and I know God has put it in your heart and in your DNA to be a mommy. You come more alive around small children than any other time, and I can't wait to watch you train up your own little ones both biological and adopted.

In your 40's, my wish is that those little ones will come to know Jesus. Through your constant example of love and grace, your children will understand Christ's sacrifice and want a relationship with Him. I wish that you will have the sweet privilege, like I did and do, of baptizing them and watching them grow into humble servants of the Lord.

"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." 
- 3 John 1:4

In your 50's, as your beauty inevitably fades, I know that you will have confidence in your inner beauty as all your insecurities will have faded away with your youth. I know you will understand the peace that comes from trusting the Lord even when the world sometimes seems to be falling apart all around you. And I know that you will not forget where you came from and will find joy in giving sacrificially to ensure that others have the same opportunities you were given.

In your 70's, it is my goal that even if Daddy and I have gone on, that you and Isaiah, and any other siblings you may be blessed with, will continue to be the best of friends. That even though you may no longer have tickle fights, you will still laugh together till you cry. And whether I'm there or not, that I'll be comforted in knowing you have each other.

And in your 90's, it is my vision that you will be the matriarch of a large family. That your great grandchildren will come to you for your renowned wisdom and kindness. That you will look back on an abundant life full of serving others and being a voice for the voiceless. And that your legacy will be carried on for generations as one who loved and walked with Jesus.

"And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." -Micah 6:8