The Oldest One

So here’s what you don’t know – my daughter, The Oldest One, is getting baptized on Sunday. She’s been asking for a while, but I have continually said no. How can she grasp something at nine years old that took me twenty-nine years to learn? And sometimes I still don’t really “get it”.

The Oldest One was an old soul at birth. She kept me in line from day one. Becoming a mother didn’t come naturally to me, and God blessed me so much with this child. She was a difficult baby, but has been a wonderful child since. We struggled during the 3’s, but any parent will tell you that’s the hardest of the toddler years.

Strong willed but obedient, she’s a people pleaser and a caretaker. She reminds me of school deadlines; she learned early that she needed to. I remember picking her up at daycare and her looking at me sadly and saying “You forgot to send money again for Melody Makers. I didn’t get to go.”

She was then and is now a brilliant child. She is an old soul, wise well beyond her years, and stunningly beautiful. The product of parents that divorced when she was a mere five months old, something I never thought I would deal with, she is blessed with four parents that love her very much. We haven’t always navigated the waters well, and we’ve made our share of mistakes (her father and I, at least – I frequently joke that she has better stepparents than biological parents).

I am in crazy love with her and I am so proud of her. And her choice, on her own, to follow Jesus is my proudest moment as her mother. To ensure she was ready not only to make this commitment, but really understand what it means, she met with the leader of her large community of church friends (which contains hundreds of kids, so it’s no small deal).

In so many ways, I feel like she raised me just as much as I raised her; in some ways more.

So please, keep her in your prayers this week as she prepares to take this next step in obedience to God.