A little under the weather . . .

Today my sweet, joyful, big girl is sick.  Ninety-nine percent of the time she has a smile on her face, but today that girly grin is gone.  I feel so bad for her and wish I could make it all go away.  We were up most of the night with a nasty stomach bug that has been going around our town.  She is finally sleeping again and hopefully the worst has past.  Having to lay low today has made me slow down and think about things more clearly.  I have been praying lately about how in the world do we raise two innocent and compassionate girls in this world we live in today. Almost every girl, tween, teen, and woman you see on TV these days seems to have an attitude of entitlement and invincibility.   I recently caught Abi trying to mimic some celebrity posed on a magazine cover at the grocery store.  What is a mother to do?  Get on my knees is what He keeps speeking to me over and over as I ask that question.  As I talked with Abi about that grocery store incident, God simply reminded me that we are all made different and unique.  All with different talents, different eye color, different body types, and different faults.  Yet, we are all still made in HIS image.  That is truely beyond my understanding!  I had the opportuinity to remind her to always be who God made her to be.  And simply put, that means anytime she trying to mimic and act like some TV character or other kid, she is not Abi.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not extreme enough to say that she can never pretend and role play.  We love to be imaginative at our house.  But, I also want to be realistic and not underestimate the wordly influences that are out there.  It seems that there is a huge movement in society today to make children, girls especially, grow up entirely too fast and to basically ignore who God created them to be.  They are not princesses of this world.  They are daughters of the Heavenly King!

I was talking to a lady recently who I consider a dear friend and she told me a story that I have tucked deep in my heart.  She told me how a minister and his wife had been going through a rough season in their ministry and they just didn't feel they could sustain it.  And the minister's wife said something to him that was so practical, yet so profound.  She used the example of a football player trying to get a first down for his team.  The player knew he could get plowed over in the process of trying to gain yardage, but even getting a couple of yards meant his team was that much closer to the goal line.
This spoke to me on so many levels.  Ministry, friendships, parenting, and pretty much all of life.  Sometimes we have to get run smack over to gain just one yard.  But, God has already won the game.  I'm still scared to death about raising my girls in this media driven culture and I know I am going to have to endure many more tackles in this life, but what an incredible game it will be.
I love when God forces me to stop and sit still for a bit.  I'm so grateful for the time today, but I'm also ready for my sweet Abi to be herself again!