I Promise

Nothing could have prepared me for the joy this little girl brings. As we roll past her six-week birthday today, she begins to show signs of understanding and recognition when we look into her eyes or say her name. It's already time for Danny and I to start being careful what tones of voice we use in the house or how we talk to each other in her presence. Thinking about these things, I want to put into writing some of my resolutions about the kind of mother I want to be.

Many of these come from recent sermons we've listened to by Pastor Al Martin, and others come from observing my own mom and other wonderful mothers we know.

Dear Katara, and all future children:

I promise...

To maintain high moral standards, so you will leave our home with a large amount of the innocence you had when you came into it.

To walk with God before you in a manner that makes you desire a relationship with Him as the greatest joy you will ever know.

To teach you faithfully from the precepts of the Bible.

To never pressure you to come to a decision about religion which you are not ready to make.

To respect and obey your father all the time, when you are watching and when you're not. To show you that I love him more than anything every single day.

To spend time with you as often as I can.

To figure out who you are, and what you like, and everything else there is to know about you.

To never let you get away with being lazy.

To let you be a kid for as long as possible.

To make learning fun.

To eat well, be active, and take care of my body so that I always have the energy and stamina to be there for you, and so that you will learn how to be healthy too.

To apologize when I have failed you.

To put down the computers and go outside with you, as often as possible.

To always open the doors of our home to your friends.

To laugh with you and at your jokes and silly antics, and to let you laugh at me when I am doing weird Mom things (like crying during Father Of The Bride).

To let you go, weather it's your first day of school or your last day at home.

To try not to embarrass you more than is necessary for your normal development.

To love every minute of your wild, ridiculous antics, and to never be embarrassed by you even when other people raise their eyebrows.

To discipline out of love, not react out of anger.

To take you seriously.

To give you as many opportunities to serve as possible.

To be cheerful and pleasant, not stressed all the time.

To not obsess about keeping the house clean 24-7, even though I really really like it that way.

To try to be reasonably cool so I won't be annoying to you when you are a teenager.

To accept you for exactly who you are.

To give up the things I love if they are getting in the way of keeping any of these promises.

To be patient.

To encourage you to climb higher, run faster, and try new things- even if it scares me to death to watch you.

To make sure you know I'm in charge.

To stand my ground when you don't like our rules, even if you hate me for it.

To not spoil you too much.

And most importantly, I promise to pray for you every single day for as long as I live.

I know I won't do all of these things all the time, and I certainly won't do any of them perfectly. But as God is my witness this is the model I want to strive after!