Just like you

"I want to grow up just like you," Carie said while we sat across from one another at the kitchen table.

"Do you mean you want to be grown up just like Mommy?" I queried.

"No, I mean I want to be just like Mommy when I grow up." What a great thing that was to hear when I was feeling sick, unkempt, and exhausted.

"Oh, you want to have three great children and a wonderful husband. And you want to take care of them and fix good meals for them."

"Hee, hee. I want to fix things they don't like like tomato sauce. All the time I want to fix things they don't like" responded Carie with a goofy grin. I was hoping for a more positive follow up statement.

Yesterday Carie's actions demonstrated beautifully her desire to be like Mommy. In the morning I was in the living room with my Bible on my lap. Carie pranced in and sat down for a minute. After exchanging greetings she said, "I need to go get my Bible." She ran out of the room, retrieved her Bible, plopped herself down on the love seat, and commenced a retelling of several Old Testament stories. I soon left the room to get breakfast for some hungry family members, but Carie remained "reading" her Bible for quite a while longer.

I hope that as Carie looks at me and desires to grow up to be like me, she will see me as one who abides in God, who relies on His mercy and grace, who walks by faith, who is filled with the Holy Spirit, and who loves others deeply from the heart. I pray that she will be an imitator of God.

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children

and live a life of love,

just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us

as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Ephesians 5:1 (NIV)