Meran is less than 4 months away from becoming a teenager. She loves to remind me of it too. And while I know I haven't been through the teenage years before, I just smile when strangers warn me what is yet to come when she is a "teen".
I know Meran. She knows me. We have open communication. The Lord has completely blessed us with all 4 of our children. But Meran, indeed has become a double blessing as she grows with each passing year. Her love for Jesus is the secret. Because without that she would not possess the wisdom of choosing wisely who to surround herself with, how to spend her time and the discipline she has in both school work and her spiritual work. I have learned much from her...as most can also say about their own children. Raising children surely shapes and molds us in a way we wouldn't have stretched ourselves otherwise.
Please don't take this post as tooting my own horn, or Meran's. I'm just simply sharing what is in my swollen-with-love-heart for my first born. As it swells for all my children. My heart nearly burst Monday at Disneyland. We went to watch Meran and her Dance Team, from school, perform at Disney's Performing Arts. I almost cried as I watched her dance...this girl who didn't talk much up until 5 years old because she required speech therapy and sometimes people couldn't understand her, who weathers change & challenges so well, who prays for the sick and hurting, who has to stay up sometimes later than her classmates to finish her homework because she needs a bit more time...but perseveres for that A, who gives me insight when I can't see past my own nose.
And I know that the Joy I feel because of her, is the Joy my Heavenly Father feels for me, tenfold.