The Last Days of Four. . .

Friends, this month my sweet girl will turn five years old.

And I’m a little sad because there’s just something about five that makes me feel like she’s just not so little anymore.

Maybe because it’s considered “school age” as opposed to pre-school or toddler? Who knows? The bottom line is that I’m holding on hard to these last days of her being four.

I don’t know when the last time will be that she’ll crawl into our bed for a snuggle. Or when she’ll decide she’s too old to play with her mom.

Truly I am so blessed, I have four amazing kiddos and I love my three boys dearly. They really are unique and fun and each one is special and has his own unique “quirks” that I totally love.

But there’s just something about my third born, sweet girl that just melts my heart. Maybe it’s the fact that we are both spring babies and with our birthdays only a few weeks apart we do have similar personalities. Maybe it’s just that she’s a darling girl and just says the sweetest things, like how she wants to live in the apartments up the street from our house when she grow up so she can still see me every day. Or that when she’s a mom we can be mommy best friends. I love that.

Sure, I know that can change. I’ve worked with teens and there often does come a time when the last thing a teenage girl wants to do is hang out with her parents. But I’m not convinced that that’s how it has to be. I’m holding out hope that we will be best mommy friends one day.

And if I can be totally honest; I’m so glad to be able to keep her home and homeschool her in the fall for Kindergarten. I know it’s not for everyone but she is so precious to me and any extra time I can have with her to teach her how to grow up to be a godly young woman is a blessing. I know what school can be like and I may be “over-protective” but I’m OK with that. If I can keep her from experiencing relational aggression, bullying, peer pressure or exposure to things she may not be ready for then that’s what I want to do for as long as I can.

We live in a broken world and I’m not naive, I know I can’t keep her from pain or from experiencing the suffering that comes with our brokenness but there’s a time for everything and for the time being I’m going to continue to nurture her sweet heart (as well as her brothers’) so that when the time does come she’ll be ready to face it with faith and confidence in who she is as a daughter of the King.

 

Oh, sweet girl I wish I could hold on to you at age four forever. . .

The way you light up the room with your smile, the way your little brother looks at you in admiration and how you can even melt your teenage brothers’ hearts with an invitation to join you for a dance party. How you are always sticking up for your friends and how you are always readily available for a snuggle.

We love you so much and are so blessed that God sent you to our family to be our little girl. My prayer is that you would just continue to be the kind, thoughtful and sweet girl that you are and that no matter what challenges come your way, that you would hold fast to your faith and love of Jesus and trust in Him because He loves you even more than we do and that is a whole LOT.