Still my baby

It seems like yesterday I was holding her in my arms and rocking her to sleep.  It's actually more like 4,745 yesterdays ago.  My baby girl is a teenager now.  Most things have changed.  Some things remain the same.
For instance, I can still count on her excitement and curiosity when we find a bug.  She has always been my little "Nature Girl".  She still has a love and respect for nature, that she has had since she was two.  Birds, Bugs and Bay!  She still loves to sleep, and has the same crazy look on her face if you mess with her before she has fully woken up.  (I do have pictures of then and now with this look, however I am not sure she would speak to me again...EVER...if I posted them!)










Many things are different.  I can no longer help her with her hair, or outfits.  Some days, this is painful.  Such as today when she happily made it out of the house in a pair of black basketball shorts, neon Chuck's and a rawr dino shirt.  Mornings like this, I try and focus on the "she's happy" part.  I also remember that I had questionable attire and hairdo's at her age.  
She is so independent now.  She no longer comes to me for a magical mommy kiss when she is injured, and she most of the time knows all there is to know.
Watching her grow is bitter sweet.  I cannot always warn her about her choices, and sometimes she is just plain stubborn.  So, I watch her learn the hard way.  It is then I can be "Momma" and scoop her up off the floor and help her dust off her knees.
Most of the time, she is a shining star!  She watches out for those around her and has no problem sacrificing a want for someone Else's need.  I love this about her.  I love that she is selfless and caring.  It is a little scary that she wears her heart on her sleeve, but God is a faithful God. I know that He designed her this way.  This is all part of His plan for life. She is very good at the "love others as yourself" rule.  A lesson I sometimes learn through her.

She doesn't care about other people's opinions so much.  She has a very good deciphering ability between what's cool and what's right, and what's going to get her, or someone else into trouble.
The hardest part is making sure I am the mom God wants me to be.  Making sure that I am cultivating the special things God's gifted her with, so that she may use them to her full potential for His purpose.  So many times, I fail.  I lose my cool, or drop the ball.  It isn't easy being a mom of a teenage girl. Much less one living in a world where others her age are posting half nude pictures of themselves and worried about impressing the next jock that crosses their path.  They seem to have to face these things a lot sooner than I ever did.

We do our best to keep on, keeping on.  I try to live life on my knees. Praising God that His mercies begin new each morning.  Asking for an abundance of grace to be poured out upon each other, and that we may easily dispense it when buttons are pushed.  And of course, that she be hedged in, and that He would block her patch with thorn bushes.  After all, she's still my baby.