Unlike Karen and Kristi, my daughter, Angela, is all grown up. She is 26 now -- wow! -- and the mother of two boys, Keagan and Hudson, and is an expectant mother of a baby girl, due to be born this October! I couldn't be more proud of my grown up girl!
But I can still remember when she was just a young thing, and all she wanted to do was play with her dolls. She loved pretending to be the mother and playing house. She would even go on special father-daughter "dates" with my husband, and in her innocent seven-year-old way, she would get all dressed up, sit up as high as she could in her chair, and believed that people who saw her would think she was my husband's wife and not his daughter!
Angela was always one -- or two! -- steps ahead of whatever age she was at the time. When she was a toddler, she wanted to be in school. When she was in school, she wanted to be a teenager. When she was a teenager, she wanted to drive. And once she started driving, she wanted full independence.
Now she has it, and is so fulfilled in her life as a mother and wife. But she also has the responsibility of being depended on, day and night. Angela has learned that being a mother is something profoundly more life-giving and life-needing than playing with dolls ever was --just as being married takes infinitely more commitment than dating does.
I have to say, though, she does it all quite marvelously. It's funny how all those years of playing dolls and house prepared her for being a mother. Play really is the work of the child.
Throughout it all, we have remained close. Have we always gotten along? I wish I could say yes, but the truth is Angela is an independent person who does not like to be pushed or manipulated into decisions she feels are not her own. That means I have had to learn to let go sometimes, give it to God, and simply be there for her when she needs me.
And you know what? It's the being there for her that has given me the most joy. Does it always come at convenient times? Of course not. Being there for someone always manages to happen when we are swamped by life. But as my sweet daughter has found out for herself, a parent is always there for their child. I couldn't imagine it any other way, either.
A parent always wants to take credit for what their child becomes, but if we are honest, we know we are only a part of it. God entrusted my husband and I with a beautiful girl 26 years ago, and the best thing I ever did for her was love her and be there for her. God took care of the rest.
We started this series on relationships because we believe that the mother-daughter relationship is so central for all women. It begins when they are young like Karen's daughters and continues all the way to adulthood, past even where Angela is now. She hasn't stopped needing my advice, support, and love.
Next we will turn to the relationship a girl has with her father, a relationship as important as any other. But before we go there, remember today to tell your mother -- or daughter -- that you love and appreciate them for who they are and what a blessing from God they are in your life.
Blessings to you all,
Jody
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