Our Mama's Namesake...
The baby of our Family who is for certain, a baby no more...
Somewhere along the way, I blinked, and the memory of crying during my ultrasound - discovering that you were a GIRL - and wondering WHAT in the world I would ever do with one of THOSE... seems like a distant dream. Because here we are, you and I -- somehow four years later...so alike and yet, so very different. You have broken and remade me, and I cannot imagine our lives without the whirling and swirling pig tailed little blondie who has every single one of us wrapped around her little finger.
Four years old this month.
That's four years of learning and growing together.
Four years of Mama becoming an early bird, because your day always starts around 5:00 a.m.
Four years of me - clinging ever closer to my Savior - praying for Him to show me how to lead you well. Four years of seeing my face mirrored in yours, my laugh echoed in your own, and our hearts stitched together - weaving ever tighter.
God is so good, sweet girl.
So gracious. How blessed you are to have three big brothers watching over you, protecting you, and loving you each day. What a gift you have in your Daddy -- a man who loves deep, and wild, and true -- who takes his role of "Father" so very seriously. And who loves you with his Life...
What a gift you have been to our Family.
What a Game Changer!
You have been a sweet, perfect bookend - closing out our seasons of infancy, toddlerhood, and now preschool..
I have learned to savor theses stages. My fourth time in now -- I know they don't last.
I have tried to savor you.
To slow and really see....
To choose YOU....and see Joy.....and find the sacred amidst all of the daily chaos that is LIFE...
You've changed me, London.
You have slowed me down. You have broken my fear of what other's think. And you have made me fierce in this role of mothering a young girl....who will one day very soon become a young woman....
My prayer for you is that you will harness that strength of will and fearlessness into something big and grand for God's Kingdom. I pray you will be bold for Him and strong in your beliefs and convictions. I pray that you will always do what is right - even if that requires making a hard decision, and I pray that you will always know that there is absolutely nothing that you could ever do to make us love you any more...and there's not a thing that you could do to make us love you any less...
I pray that you will always see the gift you have in three older brothers and that they will forever be three of your truest friends. Let them protect you. Let them learn how to be gentlemen with you. It's cute. And you're fiesty. So, it's good practice for all of you....
London, one of my greatest prayers for you -- even now -- is that you will remain pure throughout your teen years until you meet the man God has for you to one day marry. Your entire life will be swimming upstream -- against the tide of how most of the rest of the world thinks and believes -- and that's okay. I pray for your husband.... And right now, I pray even more for his sweet Mama....that she loves Jesus deeply and that she will raise her boy to follow hard after Him. To make Him Lord of his life.. And to be able to lead and love you well...
Doing what everyone else is doing is lame, Londy. It's so overrated.....
You already like to march to the beat of your own drum -- I pray you always stay this way when it comes to things that really matter...
I love the love between you and your Daddy.
As you grow...I pray it deepens and solidifies...and I pray you commit in your heart to wait for someone as good and as kind...as gentle....and as true as he is. Set your standards high. Don't lower them for anyone.
I pray that you will always stay YOU. Wild and crazy YOU... fearless and brave.
Strong willed and sensitive. Funny and kind....
With a love for your Savior that is SO deep...so unwavering....so faith filled and true....
These are the prayers that I breathe over you while you still curl up small in the room next to mine.
These are the dreams that I have for you - even at four - because I'll blink again and you'll be gone...
London Faith -- may you model well the character traits of your Grammy's....
May you forget your Mama's flaws....and may you see me with grace filled memories..
May you never doubt your Mama's love and her prayers for your Life and your future....
You are a gift, Dear One...
A never expected or dreamed of Chapter in this life of your Mama.
I LOVE mothering a little girl. I love all that having a little girl entails...
And I love the hilarious combination of girlygirl/tomboy flavor that you rock....
Most days, you are running wild - barefeet, tangled hair, a beautiful dress, covered in filth, and chasing chickens... and it absolutely delights me. These four years have been epic, sweet girl.
Thanks for letting your Mama learn.
Thank you for your sweet, wild love.
For the Joy and the Crazy you have brought to our Home.
In the words of your older brother Kaden....who voices this sentiment on a regular basis: "It's kind of nice having a little girl around, isn't it?" Indeed it is, Londy....
Happiest of Birthdays, Dear One....
