Can a mother be too proud of her little girl? I am struggling with that right now, as I attempt to write what is in my heart about our firstborn, our daughter Jessica Faith. The Lord gave her to us eleven years ago, and we were so ignorant, so unsuspecting of the treasure we had acquired in her.

When she arrived, I became a mother. I learned for the first time what it was like to carry a part of me outside of my body. So small, so vulnerable, so beautiful, she quickly won our hearts. Our lives had changed forever, and we never looked back.

As she grew, we learned so much about ourselves, about humanity, about God. We denied ourselves so that Jessica might have what she needed, and it was our joy to do so! We taught her God's Word, and promised to teach her to walk in His precepts. In training her, we were being trained in valuable life and ministry skills. We made mistakes. She readily forgave, and adored us as the gods in her little universe.

All too soon, she was no longer a toddler, but a spunky, happy little girl full of boundless energy. Her younger sister had arrived by then, and she eagerly took on the task of showing baby sister the world. How she made us all laugh! I might have kept her a little girl forever, but God knew better. He knew the best was yet to come..

As the years passed, I marvelled at her intelligence, her charm, her individuality, and her growing faith. She often surprised me with the thoughtful things she said, many times displaying wisdom beyond her years. I wrote many of those things into a journal, lest I forget them. We often talked about God and the Bible, and she loved to sing about Him! One day, she told me she wanted vida eterna, to be with God forever. That day she gave her heart to Christ.

And now she is eleven years old. Practically a lady! She chooses for herself to love God, to walk in His ways and seek to please Him with her life. She still adores us, her parents, but she knows we are not perfect. We still make mistakes. And she still graciously forgives. Whereas once we led her entirely by the hand, now she is beginning to walk by our side in this grace of the Christian life. I catch a glimpse of who she is becoming. A Christian. A lady. My friend. I am breathless at the thought that this beautiful person is my daughter.

Thank You, Lord, for giving us our Jessica for these eleven years!

And now, here are eleven things I love and admire about Jessica:

1) Her sweet, friendly personality.

2) Her kindness toward others.

3) Her willingness to help her mom.

4) She is so good with handicrafts and sewing.

5) She loves to give to others.

6) She loves and honors her parents.

7) She enjoys helping care for her younger siblings.

8) She readily memorizes God's Word, and is quick to recall key passages.

9) Her godly desire to learn how to be a keeper at home.

10) Her lovely, feminine ways which delight those around her.

11) Her sweet Christian testimony she maintains among her friends.

Happy birthday, sweet Jessica! I love you!

That seems to be the theme around here as we are trying to finish the top of our house! It was just a flat concrete terraza with a half-wall, and when it rained the water just sat there, causing dampness and mildew in the rooms below. So we are completing the walls with wood and adding a graded roof to throw off the water. I can hardly wait until it's done! Right now, it's cold and wet up there on the terraza, but soon it will be a dry, habitable place.

I think you will agree that there's a lot of peace, safety and comfort within walls. Think of the ark that Noah built, wherein his family found shelter and safety from the storm of God's wrath. Can you imagine the security they felt within those walls? They had been carefully built according to God's specifications, a sure ticket to safety. "And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of..." said the Lord, and "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." What if Noah had taken some shortcuts when he built the ark? I'm sure the Lord would have spared their lives in spite of it, but they might have been bailing water for several months!

I think of Nehemiah when he saw the sad state of the walls of Jerusalem.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me...and viewed the wall...

Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

(from Nehemiah 2:12,15,17)

What is the state of the spiritual walls of my own family? I know that as a wife and mother, I have the power to build them up and make my home a safe haven.

"Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands." Proverbs 14:1

Is there an area of the wall that's a bit broken down and sadly neglected? Shall I just sit and shake my head, despairing at the state of things? What did Nehemiah say? Come, and let us build up the wall! I will arise today, and build!

(By John Angell James)

There appears to me to be, at the present moment,
a most criminal neglect, on the part of Christian
parents, of the pious education of their children.

That Christian who would carry on a system of pious
education with success, should enforce it with all the
commanding influence of a holy example. Let your
children see all the "beauties of holiness" reflected
from your character, and the grand outline of godly
virtue filled up with all the delicate touches and
varied coloring of the Christian graces.

Let your children have this conviction in their hearts,
"If there are but two real Christians in the world,
my father is one, and my mother is the other."

It is dreadful--but not uncommon for children to
employ themselves in contrasting the appearance
which their parents make . . .
at the Lord's table--and at their own table;
in the house of God--and at home!

I thank God for my dear husband when he is here with us, but his absence makes me EXTRA appreciative. The other day, the thing I dreaded would happen, happened. The toilet stopped up. I hesitate to mention this, because I know there are women out there who will scoff, but you have to understand I had three brothers and a Daddy who always took care of these things, then married a sweet man who does the same. I call, "Honey, the potty's stopped up!" (Enter blonde gallant knight, wielding a plunger.)

I'm also taking out the icky trash. And even nature's critters seem to know I'm in charge. Two mornings in a row I've found a big ugly spider in my kitchen sink. While I don't run screaming from spiders, I don't particularly delight in killing them, either, and I'm not the catch-and-release type.

Six children to one parent, that's pretty good odds something is going to happen while my back is turned. It did! Jessica climbed the post of our laundry line outside, and was standing on the crossbeam, when Jillian came after her. (They were playing tag.) Rather than get tagged, Jessica took a flying leap! (Mind you, this post she was standing on is higher than my head.) She landed on her shins on the edge of the trampoline, then fell to the ground. One shin is badly gouged, and I am thinking about taking her into town for x-rays, just in case her rapidly growing bone is cracked.

*SIGH*

We miss the Daddy. He is irreplaceable, not just in the home-life, but in our hearts! We miss his leadership, and his guidance for the boys. We miss his teaching, instructing us from God's word. We miss his strong, stablizing presence. Without him, our home is not complete, and it is felt on every side!

My heart goes out to those women who really are single moms.