Happy Birthday Kate!!

So when thinking about Kate turning 3 and this past year I have a broad spectrum of emotions. Kate is such a fun little girl who's larger than life personality keeps us laughing and just brings us a lot of joy. She loves everyone and hardly ever meets a stranger. The way she went from saying few words to having full on conversations is amazing. And I never knew that a two year old could be so opinionated about what she was wearing and have total melt downs when her shoes get wet! This past year has also been extremely hard as learning to parent/discipline has been a HUGE journey. The journey though has been more about the Lord revealing my sin to me then anything else. Through raising Kate I have had more of my pridefullness, self-righteousness, anger and desire for control exposed...and that has been really hard. But I am thankful that the Lord is kind and uses these things to mold us and causes us to be in complete desperation to draw us closer to him.

I am in the middle of reading a book by Dan Allendar called "How Children Raise Parents." A lot of what I am learning and my views on this past year can be summed up in an excerpt from his book. He says in the book, "No other arena in life holds us more hostage to hope, more afraid to dream, more defensive about our decisions, and more open to receive help - all simultaneously. The intensity and passion of parenting bring the potential not only for our worst but also for our very best as human beings. It is the space in our lives where we are most open to the work of God to change us - if we will only allow our children to lead us into spiritual maturity."

The song on this slideshow is by Laura Story and is called "Make Something Beautiful." My prayer is that He would take my brokenness and failure as a parent and "make something beautiful" in me and in Kate.

Happy Birthday Kate! We love you very much!!

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