My Evangeline,
You remain one of the greatest gifts God will ever give me. I love you with a love that I don't think you will understand until you look into the face of your own child someday. I wish you could understand how much before that day, but I think somehow that is a part of God's beautiful design.
You are 3 years old now. What your Papa and I have recently discovered about you is how very very much you are like your mama. At least at this point in your life. But one way in which you are not like me, for which I am thankful, is your love for people. You are not shy like I was when I was your age. You approach nearly anyone who interests you with a, "what's your name?" You have only just begun to resist going into your class at church, but it's not much of a fight :) You love people. I pray that your spirit will remain open, friendly, and inviting because everyone who encounters you and your friendship is blessed.
Your imagination runs wild every day. I prayed for that. Each day we are new characters, and if Mommy dares go out of character before the game is done, you are quick to correct me. "Call me Strawberry, Mommy".
You are already wise beyond your years and I pray that wisdom would be a mark upon your life. You think deeply and thoroughly, you deal well with correction, you learn from your mistakes and are easily teachable.
You are the oldest. And the most loving big sister there is. Though I know that there have been some internal struggles as you lost your place as the baby of the family, you have loved your little sister so well from the moment she was born. You are her friend and she already looks up to you. You make her laugh and when you are sad, she cries with you. I pray that you have a deep, lasting friendship throughout your lives. I pray that you trust one another, laugh with one another, share ridiculous inside jokes that no one would get, and even in the moments of disagreement, that you would humble yourselves before one another and seek forgiveness quickly.
The way in which you are like me, I pray that they only draw us closer and don't distance us as they sometimes can with people. You can tend to push your boundaries, and while you learn more quickly than I did, you do sometimes resist. While you do love people, you will shy away from large groups and do much better in small or one-on-one scenarios. If in a large group, even of people you know and love, you will tend to separate yourself and play happily on your own.
You have a sensitive spirit in many ways. You are sensitive to the feelings of those around you, and your own feelings are delicate. You do not like to be yelled at, but need to be reasoned with and loved on, and assured. You are emotional, beautifully emotional just as God designed us women. No one can make you more emotional than your Papa. While you do not like it if I am the one who must discipline you, you get over it very quickly and easily but Papa means so much to you in a way that I can't even fully understand (another of those beautiful God-designs, the relationship between Papa and daughter). Your heart just breaks when you think that Papa is upset with you. The tears are genuine, the moment fragile. You are one of the lucky ones, my darling. Not everyone has a papa so involved in the lives of his children, so eager to spend time with you, so incredibly in love with you, who tries so hard to understand you and love you well. We need to be good to him as he is far outnumbered with these feminine creatures who view life so differently than he does. And if you didn't know before the day you're reading this, he's perfect for us and we are who we are because God chose him for us.
Another way you are like me is your love of books and reading. We are losing books to electronics these days, but no fear, Mommy will always make sure that you have pages to turn, pictures to touch, words to underline, and bindings to bend. You are my Olivia and my Eloise. there is some Fancy Nancy in you but your spunk, silliness, livelihood, and slight tomboyishness make you more like the former.
At this moment, much to your Papa's chagrin, you are also like me in the fact that you don't care much for snuggling. You enjoy your own space. Also like me, it isn't that you want to be alone most times, for you would prefer a playmate every time, or if you are playing by yourself, you are most content when we are nearby. you love to be around people but just prefer that your personal space be honored, and that if you are focused on something, a snuggle pit-stop is not to your liking. I will pray that you have an extra snuggly husband one day like I have!
I pray that you see all of these things about you and thank God for each. Don't begrudge the perfect and beautiful way that God made you for that is often Satan's way of keeping you from the things in which God purposed and designed you for. Though much like me, there is no other you. No other Evangeline Mogan Braun called to live in these days. No other person meant to live the life that God has planned for you. Trust Him. He loves you more than we do. How can that be!!?? All I know is that it's true and if it's true, than I don't have words to express to you how much that is! I pray that His love for you would be revealed to you even now and that your relationship with Him would always be before any other.
My heart aches with love you for, my darling brown-eyed, soft-haired, sweet smelling, tiny- toothed,button-nosed, BEAUTIFUL little girl .You're my favorite and my best.
Love,
Mommy
No comments:
Post a Comment