Last Tuesday, my beautiful baby girl turned two! She was born June 8, 2008.

She has brought so much joy into my life and JA’s! And I love her more and more each day. It has been an honor and a great privilege to be her mom.

My good friend Jenn, taught me this when Andi was a few months old (I think) and I have never ended a day since then without telling her these:
Andi, you are special.
You are a blessing.
Mommy and Daddy thank God for giving you to us.
Mommy and Daddy love you so much.

Andi has memorized these already. Most of the time, she says it with me. But I know that these words will forever make a mark on her heart and soul, and in her life.

She knows that she is special. She knows that she is a blessing.
She knows that we are grateful to God for having her in our lives.
She knows we love her.

She knows too that she is a princess. She is God’s princess. And she is our princess. And she deserves nothing less than the best. She shouldn’t settle for anything less than God’s best for her.

Last night, as I was putting her to sleep and we were saying our nightly prayers, she asked me: “Mommy, where is Jesus?”
I answered: “In our hearts, sweetheart.”
I asked, “Do you want Jesus to come into your heart?” She nodded.
I asked her to pray with me. “Lord Jesus, please come into my heart. I give you my life and I want to live for you all the days of my life, Amen.” And she did.
Her Daddy was just listening and watching us as she followed and prayed the words that I said.
I asked her, “Andi, where is Jesus?”
She replied: “In my heart, Mommy.”

I was thinking about this, why she asked about Jesus. I believe it is because she has heard us talk about Him since the day she was born. We prayed with her and read the bible with her maybe for as long as she can remember. She sees us pray with others and for others. She sees us pray and we pray with her for just about anything and for anything. She has seen us bless her, and she has heard us thank God for every little thing that we have and have gone through. And she has then learned how to bless us and others, and to thank God for her family, her friends, her gifts, her toys, her food, and just about anything she can think of.

I think about that and how at 2 years old, she can sing and worship and pray and bless others. It is not because we have done anything extraordinarily great. It is simply because we deliberately made her hear what we want her to absorb and eventually learn what to value. I think she cannot help but learn how to pray if that is the way of life in the home that she lives in.

So my take home is this: What you say and do, and more importantly what you do and say again and again will make a mark on your child’s life. And the good (and often scary) thing is that we get to choose what will make a mark on them. Is it for their good or bad? The decision as parents is ours. And for the sake of our children and the next generation, I pray we make the right one.

Side Notes:

Happy Birthday, my Princess Andi! I love you! You are a great blessing, and a wonderful gift and reward from God.

Check out my friend’s site: jennpunzalan.com. I have learned a lot from her. I know that you will too.