31 Days of Hope Day 25

If you have a blog, you know you can check your statistics to see what part of the world your readers are coming from, you can see what time of day most of your readers are reading your blog, and you can see which blog generated the most interest. 

I was looking through my statistics and noticed my most popular blog was on December 9, 2009, which happens to be the blog I share about my book!  The blog is titled A Scarlet Cord of Hope Book Order.  The second most popular blog is one I wrote April 13, 2009 titled Hopes and Dreams For My Baby.  I am going to add more comments to bring it up to date.  I will ** the updated comments and type them in italics.

** When I originally wrote this in 2009, my daughter was almost twenty one years old and now she is almost twenty three years old.  She was also dating my son in law at the time.  They celebrated their first year anniversary this April 2011. 

As my children continue to age and mature I find myself thinking about topics that I dreamed about in years past, however, I never focused much on them, because they were my hopes and dreams for when my babies got older. The time has come, and I feel myself filling my mind and heart with particular hopes and dreams, especially for my daughter. My daughter is my oldest child. When I think about her, I confess, like most mothers, I am filled with motherly pride and love for her. I have loved her since the very moment I thought I was pregnant with her (and that is true for my son as well). 

I have loved her through good times, sad times, and even bad times. I have loved her even in the midst of her what I call her, prodigal daughter journey. I won't pretend that was an easy time to love her, it wasn't, but I held tight to my love for her, and more than that, the Fathers love for her. At certain times in that season, even though I loved her, I wanted to seriously hurt her. Not in an abusive way, more so in a way that said, "GIRL WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? HOW COULD YOU DO THESE THINGS TO YOURSELF? WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!"  By God's mercy and grace she finally softened her heart and allowed truth and love to over rule the lies she believed.  God is good and He continued to call her back until she answered. Well, more like until she got caught, however, she will tell you herself, she was glad she got caught, she was tired of running and tired of all the empty promises of the world.  (**My daughter shared her testimony at her church this past year, myself and my friend Cynthia, went to hear her share...needless to say I was proud of her and was reminded once again about how far she has come, how grateful I am for her and for the beautiful Godly woman she has become!)

I don't say this lightly....Praise God we are out of that season!  Being on this side of the situation for a while now, I would go through it all over again, knowing the outcome that I know now. Although at the time, in the midst of that season, I doubt I would agree with that statement. Time heals all wounds and actions speak louder than words. My daughter has proven over and over her repentant heart, her desire to put God first, her love for family and herself. She is not perfect by any means, but the growth and maturity in her shows fruit. I see it, hear, and feel it in her. It is real. (**I still see it, hear it, and feel it in her!)

She has been steadfast in her walk with the Lord and has finally begun to figure out who she is and what she wants in life. She also has a serious boyfriend. They have taken things slow and steady. They have made a point to get to know each other first and more importantly, they have kept God in the forefront. (**that serious boyfriend is now her husband!  We are very grateful for our son in law.)

This is the topic of reflection for me, because of their age, their desires, and the seriousness of the relationship, I find myself asking; what do I hope and dream for her for the future?  I have often  wondered to myself, what did my mom and dad want for me?  What were the hopes and dreams for them from their parents?  What about my mother in law? I  know she loves me, but what were her hopes and dreams for her son?  What kind of woman did she dream of for a daughter in law?

Most of these things I did not even consider in my first marriage (to my daughters father), however, I am very happy to say I was blessed to find these things in my husband Doug. Doug and I will celebrate thirteen years in May.  (**we celebrated fifteen years May 2011 and I am more in love with my husband each day!)

My Hopes and Dreams For My Baby 

1. I hope she always keeps God first and a priority in her own life and someday in her marriage (**she has)

2. I hope she never ignores a "red flag," as they usually never change color

3. I hope she knows, that she knows, whom she has chosen to marry  (**she has!)

4. I hope she marries her true love  (**she did!)

5. I hope they will both have open communication lines-even when it would be easier to cut the line  (**they do!)

6. I hope her husband will be a man of integrity and honor  (**praise God, he is!)

7. I hope she will be her husband's true love  (**she is!)

8. I hope she always remembers that as she leaves to cleave, we are still here and will always be  (**she knows!)

9. I hope her husband shares many laughs with her and holds her tightly through the hard times  (**he has laughed with her many times and I am sure even at her-in love of course!)

10. I hope she is never afraid of her husband (**she isn't)

11. I hope her husband never feels the need to intimidate or control her  (**he doesn't)

12. I hope she trusts the man she marries with her whole heart in all areas of life  (**she does)

13. I hope he is truly a man after God's heart  (**he is-and we are ever so grateful!)

14. I hope he is man of self control  (** he was before they married and he continues to be)

15. I hope he is a man who can embrace and accept us as her family  (**he does...in fact that was one of the things he told my husband and me when he took us to dinner to ask permission to marry her,  he said, one of the things that attracted him to her was the fact that she was family oriented and close with us and that family was important to him)

16. I hope he is man who accepts responsibility  (**he does)

17. I hope he is man who is willing to work hard for his family, but knows the balance of keeping family his priority  (**he does)

18. I hope he is wonderful husband and an amazing father  (** he is a wonderful husband for my daughter and I know someday he will be amazing father. I look forward to writing the blog that will someday say...I am going to be a grandma!)

19. I hope he leads the family by prayer and example  (**he does)

20. I hope that she and her future husband love and serve each other well through out their life time together  (**they are and I pray they will continue to do so)