My Daughter's World

This season is forever fraught with scandal, name calling, propaganda, misleading advertisements and hot tempers.  Thankfully, all that will be over for four more years after tomorrow and we can just get back to the mild complaining .  No, this is not a political post- in the many years I've been blogging, you should know that there are few subjects I won't breach in a public forum, politics being one of them. (How to fit two pairs of Spanx underneath a cocktail dress is another. It's a feat worthy of secrecy. ) As much as I dislike all of this push and pull, "my candidate is better than your candidate" silliness, I am grateful for the opportunity it creates for me to think deeply on how to raise my daughter as honestly and as truthfully and as Godly as I possibly can, no matter who sits in Office.  Here are my hopes for my daughter's world:

I HOPE...

That she grows up knowing that no one and nothing else deserves her complete allegiance other than her Father in Heaven.

I hope that she is unafraid to say the things that I am often too timid to speak aloud for fear of man and his judgement.

That she is brave enough to stand in the gap for the marginalized, the impoverished, the hungry, the broken- even if it means she will stand against the very ones who should support her.

That she is wise enough to hold her tongue to prevent harm; that when she speaks her words are chosen carefully, are delivered slowly and without regret.

That she will gather her arms around the self-righteous, the indignant, the narrow-minded and know that Jesus loves them deeply, wholly and completely. That He died for them just as he did her.

That she recognizes that, "The church is whore, but she's my Mother." (St. Augustine) and takes it as her personal duty to love, honor, protect, defend, rebuild and live in community with the church whom Christ loves.

That she knows her place as a child of the most high God- a most honorable title; one that she should carry with certainty, with awe and wonder, with security and with peace.

That her heart is broken by the poor, the widowed, the orphaned.  That she weeps with those who have been hurt by war, by heartache, by destruction, by adultery, by bitterness.  That she washes the feet and kisses the hands of those who have been made to believe that they were out of God's reach because of their lifestyle, their past choices and decisions or their sexual orientation and that she walks with them all, beside them all, fighting on their behalf when they cannot stand, carrying them when they have given up and loving them as Christ surely loves them.

That she remembers that Jesus said, "Come ALL who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." All.  If Jesus turned no one away, neither should she and that there are ways that she can lovingly remind her brothers and sisters the same.

That she sees what she has as gifts given to her by a Father who loves her- not luxuries owed her because she was born in a country where we can take running water and flat screen televisions for granted.

That she sees money as a tool that is loaned to her for the good of the one she serves and that she is generous with it.

That she knows that it is a privilege to vote; an honor to live in a place where her voice matters.  But that she never forgets who is really in charge.