Seventeen Years Ago Today...

I was in the hospital birthing my second child. They say that you forget the pain. And they're right. I just remember being so happy to have a daughter. And I still am.

Now that she is almost a grown up we have great conversations, fun times shopping and lots of laughs. I can't image not having her in my life. She is smart, pretty and full of character. I wonder what her future holds. She has so many opportunities open to her. I want her to be willing to take risks and not doubt herself. She needs to be open all sorts of options, even if they are outside of her comfort zone.

It's amazing to me that this pretty cool human being came from my gene pool and was
influenced by my ideals, values and lifestyle. Of course, I know that there have been other influences - among them are godly people from our church, caring teachers and loving family members. I realize too that God has chosen to bless our lives with a fairly easy-going temperament in a mostly rule-following personality. This does make our job quite a bit easier. Thank you God!

So for today...I'm thankful for my seventeen year old daughter.