I Want It Because He Wants it

This Momma loves you and this Momma cares about you and this Momma wants to see you be all that God created you to be.

I want you to reach full academic potential. So yes, that means that you read and write and add and examine and memorize even when you don't feel like it. Not because I think it's important to be smart and not because I think it's special to know a lot of things, but because doing your best is what God expects. And, if God expects it then I do, too.

I want to see you excel in whatever sport or instrument or art form you pursue. And yes, that means if you choose to try it you will choose to give it your best shot for as long as you're in it. You don't have to like it and you don't have to keep at it season after season or year after year. But if you joined a team or took on a commitment, it's important that you finish. God expects your best, and I do, too. And, it's likely that finishing with your best will mean choosing to finish with a positive attitude.

I want to watch you enjoy friendships and thrive in relationships that span the line of age and color. It's not important to be popular, but it is important to be kind. It's not important to be likable, but it is important to be genuine. God placed you in a world full of people and it's your great privilege to know and relate to them with the full intent of serving them. If God created people and called them very good, then I pray you will look at people and choose to love them through His eyes.

I want to help you see that our great big world is a whole lot more than Charlotte or North Carolina or even the United States. Our home will always be a haven for you and your presence will always be welcomed here. But Jesus told us to go all over his world and reach people for Him. This will look different for each of you but I want you to take his command very serious: you need to go. Go to your friends. Go to your community. Go to your employment. Go wherever it is He asks and do it without looking back. You don't need details and you don't need answers; you just need to obediently go.

I want you to be godly people who live life with priorities that stem from knowing, loving, and serving Jesus. I don't want you to just be good kids and I don't want you to just be good adults. I want you to choose Jesus and let him transform you into God-honoring people.

But all of this takes time and all of this takes learning. The terrifying thing is that God has entrusted you to me. And guess what? The beautiful thing is also that God has entrusted you to me. I get to learn right in step with you. Sometimes that's thrilling and sometimes that's painful.

My life needs to model integrity and faith regarding God's Truth; love and consistency in how I talk and act; and authority and submission in how I relate to you and to God. Your Momma is a long way from being and doing these things, but because God wants it, I want it too.