Much Ado About Emily

Last month I had the privilege of attending my daughter's incredible High School production of "Nothin' Much" - a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". It was fabulous!!! It was a musical. It had several 50's & 60's tunes strewn throughout the script that made it a lot of FUN!

The best part, for me, was watching Emily emulate a character that is nothing like herself. She played the female villain -- which, for this particular version, was a rebel-girl in a black leather jacket who ran around with the cigarette-smoking, naughty boys who did their very best to stir up trouble wherever they could. Her amazing ability to portray the part was remarkable! It's an awesome experience to watch your child blossom before your very eyes. As a mom I've always imagined my daughter succeeding at great things in her lifetime....but, when you have a "front-row" seat to its very happening --it is phenomenal, to say the least!!! Her stage-presence, her facial expressions, the way she can "speak" without saying a word, her confident movements across the stage & her amazing delivery of every word of every line are just a few of her incredible feats onstage.

God has blessed Emily with so many talents & abilities, and she has the motivation & aspirations to make the most of her opportunities that He gives her to use those gifts. Having been a very determined little girl from the day she was born, it is neat to watch God work in her and grow her into such a unique individual. I thank God so often for His mighty presence in Emily's life. I pray that she will continue to follow hard after Jesus and rely on His all-sufficient grace to be the fuel that drives her wherever her dreams take her in life.

Letting Go

Last night at Jacob's basketball game a woman introduced herself as the Mom of one of Emily's friends.  She then proceeded to inform me that Emily was planning to go to her house on Sat. to get ready for Homecoming and her date (first one) with a bunch of other girls.  This woman was inviting me to join she and some other parents for appetizers and drinks while the girls were primping and taking pictures.  I was completely caught off guard!  Everything in me wanted to scream "Are you kidding me?"  Doesn't my little girl want to get ready for her first official date at home with me and my help???  The idea of socializing with a bunch of other adults that I don't even know while my daughter prepares for a milestone moment in her life three rooms down the hall?....well let's just say this is NOT what I had imagined in my heart.  

All the way home I was desperately trying to sort out my emotions.  Thankfully Emily was not in the car - or I might have grounded her for life (kidding)!  But I have to say it is a bit surreal to have your sweet little baby just grow up in a heartbeat and want so much independence from you without even batting an eyelash!  Then it hit me....this is how it's supposed to be - isn't it?  My job as a mom is to raise her as best as I can so she can begin to pull away in healthy independence and do things on her own.  Something tells me that when my children begin to live out their independence, it's rarely going to look like I thought it would - good or bad.  Just because she isn't just like me or doesn't do things exactly as I would have at her age, or want her to....that really doesn't make these experiences bad - they're just a lot different than I had expected.  

Unmet expectations are tough to deal with sometimes, aren't they??  "Hope deferred makes the heart sick"  is what Proverbs says and that can be the case at times in life.  So it is always best to HOPE IN THE LORD...because that hope will never be deferred or leave you wanting.  Letting go can be a tough one for a mom who loves her children with all her heart....but you're not merely letting go - you're LETTING GOD take them and run with them.  That little "d" you add to make 'go' into 'God'  stands for dependence, my dependence on HIM, her dependence on HIM....it also stands for deepening - the deepening of my faith and my trust in MY MIGHTY GOD who is FAITHFULL AND TRUE!  So tonight I'll be trusting Him.