her heart

this past year of raising a teenage girl has been, deep breath, ………beautiful and enlightening. i have learned so much through the young lady she is becoming and the world she is navigating. i find myself sitting back and just watching her and questioning how she learned the grace she shows, the compassion she pours and the fierce goodness she embodies. i think back to my middle school years and i cringe. end of story! she looks to everyday with joy and excitement. with an outward lens beyond herself and peers. proud is an understatement. amazed doesn’t do it justice. i remember the early years of parenting this girl, the fear i had of her strong willed spirit. i held on to the wisdom of other parents with a grip as if my life depended on it; my sanity certainly did. they told me not to squash her strong willed spirit because one day that same spirit would manifest into powerfully strong character traits. i doubted that truth in the moments of defiance, sass, independence, tantrums, attitude….if you know, you know! but oh how that truth is manifesting in her. from what her friends tell me, this girl, confident in her identity as a child of the most loving and good God, walks into her school and spreads joy, she recognizes a bad day on someone’s face and offers kindness. she’s helpful. responsible. driven and the first to encourage. after her recent cheer tryouts, which thankfully resulted in a spot on the team, her first reaction was sheer happiness for a friend that made the team who had not gotten to participate in other sports. i was floored by her selflessness in that moment. our family has begun a ministry with the youth of our church to create cards and send encouragement to those that are ill, experiencing loss or in the hospital. she wrote this without prompt or guidance. she has grown up experiencing care and compassion as i have been able to welcome her into my world as a nurse at times. she has visited hospice patients and prayed for countless others that hung heavy on my heart at the end of a shift. she knows that a smile, a kind word, a sincere thought has the power to heal a weary soul. she is gifted, no doubt. thankful for the ability to see life through her eyes and hugely compassionate heart in these sweet, pure moments of life.