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| My two beautiful girls |
1) I wish them safety and health. In my opinion, these two necessities innately belong together. I wish for them to be safe from evil outside and in. Safe in travels, safe in school and childcare, safe at home, safe in slumber. No sickness or illness beyond a common cold. No injuries. I wish them eternal safety and health for 2013 and beyond.
"I was down and broken-hearted, couldn't finish what I'd started, but I'm safe here in your arms and it's a miracle." Levi Morrow
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| Imma and PawPaw Levi at her 4th birthday party |
2) I wish them friendship. We live states away from our family so our friends are extremely important to us. They have become our surrogate family. Imma struggles with friends because it is so difficult for others to understand her. The other students in her class look out for her, they are enamored by her, as most children are, but they have difficulty understanding her, not just her language but everything about her. I tried to explain to a little boy once that Imma has difficulty understanding when people talk and he said, "I can count in Spanish. Would she understand that?" No, baby, she doesn't speak Spanish either. She speaks her own language. It's hard for grown-ups to understand, much less 5 year olds. But we are working on that and Imma says she has a best friend now. I hope that, in 2013, she is able to make some lasting friendships, that her communication skills improve and that other children find they are able to relate to her. She is funny, kind, loving, and sweet. She has a wonderful imagination. I know she could easily make friends if given the necessary tools.
As for little charismatic Lucy, I hope that she continues to make friends and build upon the friendships she has. Everyone loves Lucy. People are drawn to her. I hope she uses this gift as a blessing to others and never takes advantage of her charisma but always uses it to help others.
"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before." The Rembrandts
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| My girls playing together |
3) I wish them the gift of self-expression. Beyond verbal communication, which I hope continues to develop for both of my children, I wish them the ability to make themselves understood in whatever way is appropriate. Lucy certainly has a way with words. She is picking up more language everyday. Imma is doing so much better and I know we are on the verge of greatness. But even if she never quite has a handle on what she wants to say, I hope she continues to explore the other means of communication she has been using thus far. She is an amazing artist, though she doesn't share her talent with just everyone. She has become the master of pantomime as well over the years. I hope that someday she will be able to say whatever she wants to but these other areas of self-expression are also important and I hope that both of my girls are able to continue to develop in those areas as well.
"Change your words into truths, then change that truth into love." Stevie Wonder
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| Imma, Lucy, and Barkley |
4) I wish them to choose happiness. When Brian and I had been dating for about 4 months, I remember telling him that all I really wanted out of life was to be happy. He said something like that's what everyone wants and I agree that you would think everyone wants to be happy. But I think happiness truly is a choice and that lots and lots of people choose every day, for whatever reason, not to be happy. We make choices each day that put other priorities above happiness. I feel that I have a melancholy spirit, that I am drawn to sadness--not depression, that's different--and I know that, if I am truly going to be happy, I have to work for it. I wish, for my children, that happiness comes easily. That each day, they choose to be happy and that they maintain their innocence of evil and the stresses of life until they absolutely must be exposed to them. In the world we live in, it is becoming more and more difficult for children to maintain that sense of wonder we all imagine we had when we were younger. I wish that for them until the very last, until they absolutely must know that the world isn't as wonderful as they once thought. But even beyond that, I wish them to choose happiness because we can still be happy, despite the hardships we live with, if that's what we choose in our hearts each day.
"Put it in your heart where tomorrow shines. Gold and silver shine." R.EM.
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| A little sisterly snuggle |
5) I wish them love. I wish them an ever-flowing river of love, in and out, all encompassing, plethora of love. I wish for them to fill surrounded by the love for them and I wish them to radiate love from their very souls for everyone they come in contact with. I wish them to feel God's love and to spread that unfaltering love out into the world. Two quotes come to mind instantly for this one.
"All you need is love, love is all you need."John Lennon and Paul McCarntey
"I wish you joy and I wish you happiness but above all this, I wish you love." Dolly Parton
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| Sometimes you have to love your sister even when she's acting weird. |
If you choose to make resolutions today, I sincerely hope that you are able to keep each and every one of them. Please take a few minutes today to reflect on those you love, those you cherish, your blessings, and those who need and love you. May God bless each of you and your families and may 2013 be a prosperous year for us and all of us.
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