We never expected having a daughter to be all ruffles and lace.<\/p>\n
Good thing.\u00a0 Because what we got was DYNAMITE in a dress \u2013 when we could get you to wear one.<\/p>\n
And when we weren\u2019t praying for your survival, we were glad to see you growing up strong and confident.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
From the moment you arrived in the world, you have always traveled your own way.\u00a0 I think your Dad\u2019s declaration that there would not and I quote, \u201cNOT BE A CLOSET FULL OF PINK DRESSES\u201d the day we you were born was just the start of that fiercely independent streak.\u00a0 After fighting to live on day one, you have proven to be a tower of strength ever since.<\/p>\n
I am going to tell you something that I have never told you before about raising a strong, independent, and in charge girl.\u00a0 Not everyone appreciates parents who do.\u00a0 I distinctly remember some friends coming to visit when you were about six months old.\u00a0 They had a son and a daughter the same ages as Reed and Sawyer.\u00a0 Life is too short to deal with \u201cfriends\u201d who constantly judge your parenting. \u00a0After spending the weekend together, we discovered they were raising their children to sit quietly and observe the world, while we were raising explorers and adventurers.\u00a0 As they packed up to leave and said their good-byes, they just couldn\u2019t leave it alone.\u00a0 Their parting words were, \u201cOh good luck to you Erin. You are going to need it!\u201d<\/p>\n
We never spoke to them again because I was flabbergasted and shocked and appalled.\u00a0<\/em> Secretly I made a promise to you on that day that you could be as wild and free as you wanted and even though your closet has never been full of dresses that you could become whoever God designed you to be.<\/p>\n There were days when I had to hold my breath.<\/p>\n That promise meant there were bumps and bruises because you had to experience the world your way.\u00a0 And while your knees were often skinned up, mine were often on the floor praying God would guide your steps.<\/p>\n But the funny thing about raising tough-spirited girls is that along the way with all the rough and tumble most develop hearts for injustice and the courage to be the change needed in the world.\u00a0 More than once, I have seen you speak up when someone has been slighted, overlooked, or left out. \u00a0And that takes guts.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Recently I watched as our whole church was stirred to action because of something God placed on your <\/em><\/strong>heart.\u00a0 Think about that for a moment.\u00a0 As a teenager, your heart led a ministry to blossom and God blessed us all for it.\u00a0 Don\u2019t ever diminish the greatness God has in store for you.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know when I recognized that the promise I made to you all those years ago was playing out in living color.\u00a0 But one day I realized that you were the embodiment of one of my favorite quotes.<\/p>\n Well-behaved women seldom make history. ~ Laurel Thatcher Ulrich<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Keep being uniquely you and together with God\u2019s help I know you will make amazing things happen.\u00a0 Be fierce and courageous, never forgetting that you are made of the incredible stardust that created the stars throughout the heavens.\u00a0 And just like the nuclear explosions that created their existence, your strength and dignity and faith will change the universe.<\/p>\n Happy 17th<\/sup> Birthday to you, my wild and brave warrior!<\/p>\n Love, Momma<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Erin Last night, Dad and I went to the store to get the one last piece of your gift for today.\u00a0 I won\u2019t say that the ceiling of the Wal-mart split open and choirs of angels illuminated the path, but what transpired was about as close to that as possible. Rather than our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[61,1395,1396,257,312,1397,371,1398,1399,1400,1401],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"PD_5102\"](\"https:\/\/kandynolesstevens.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/06\/pd_5102.jpg\")
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