Doodle

Doodle is my nickname for my daughter Jessica. Over the years she has had a lot of nicknames. When she was a toddler I called her Jessabug. Her dad calls her Jessiepooh. I call her Doodle or Doodlebug or Jess. She pretends to have outgrown these childhood nicknames but secretly I think she still likes them;) She is growing a little too fast. She's as tall as both of her grandmothers and her feet have now outgrown mine. 

Recently I have had moments of pure amazement when I glimpse a tiny image of who she is becoming. It's incredible to me that her time under our roof is likely more than halfway finished. One of the reasons we decided to homeschool was a realization that there are so many things we want to teach her. Outside of schoolwork. Some of them are practical --I want her to know how to cook and how to clean. How to oversee a home and also how to be a good neighbor. Sounds provincial but when I became a wife these were the things I wish I'd known. Her grandmother is teaching her how to sew and her uncle wants to teach her to play the guitar he got her recently. (She wants to take piano also!) Her dad teaches her about trees and flowers and how to make beautiful things grow. She has learned about rooting plants and also growing them from seed. 

Right now it's summertime so we are enjoying yummy fruits and vegetables from our garden. As we have more than we can eat we either freeze or can the extra. And as you can't freeze cucumbers, last week we canned pickles.

 

Canning is hot, hard work. Or it would have been by myself:) With Jess' help though it ended up being a really fun day. She turned on Pandora and we sang along to her Casting Crowns station. She laughed good-naturedly at me as I tried to wipe sweat from my face while "stirring continually" and holding the spoon and the recipe book. 

And we talked. About little inconsequential things but also about big things. God-sized things. As we waited to hear the "pops" or the sound the lids of the jars make as they seal, I was a little sad. These moments with her are so precious. And I often take them and her for granted. Forgetting they are numbered. Ever rushing forward to the next task on my to-do list. 

Recently I feel God is beginning to prepare me for the time when I will let her go. I know that sounds strange as she is still young. But He keeps reminding me that she is His. We get to keep her for a while but she is on loan from Him. So I try to make each day count. To appreciate her quirky, funny, creative, quiet, beautiful self. To remember Tyson and I are not alone in this but are a part of a community of believers who parent along-side of us. There are things I know I am equipped to teach her; how to be strong in the face of adversity, how to smile through heart-ache, how to live her life on her knees before Him, how to be the most loyal, steadfast friend. And there are other things she needs to know God is still teaching me how to do through Him. How to be gracious. How to have the words I speak be kind. How to be slow to speak slow to anger and quick to listen. How to seek His kingdom first. How to enter through the narrow gate. And so many more! (If I'm not careful this will be a list of all the areas where I know I fall short! Mental note----GRACE not perfection)

For now I need to remember to take each day as it comes. I need to remember to hug my daughter more. I need to thank God every day for her. Not just on the good mother-daughter days;)