Teaching Mia About Her Worth

I never imagined that my daughter would be so loving and affectionate.

Amelia reminds me every day how much she loves me, her dad, and her brothers. For example, when Adrian hurt his nail the first thing she wanted to do was kiss it to make it better. Everyday she calls my name just to say “I love you”. I love how she cares for her brothers and sings lullabies to Luke when he’s having seizures. I also love that she is the friendliest little thing. When we go out she’s always greeting strangers and other kids. She kind of doesn't have the fear of stranger danger lol (is that something I should worry about??).

Having Mia is like having your very own princess.

Having Mia is like having your very own princess. I don't mean this because I think she’s perfect or it’s her nickname. I say it because she walks around like she’s royalty. Every day she wears either a princess dress or a princess skirt. She loves to put on her flashy fake jewelry. After getting dressed and doing her bed she sits on her pretend vanity and puts on her play make-up. She even wears heels around the house, you know those plastic little heels that are super uncomfortable. Yeah, those, she wears them all day, runs with them, jumps, dances, and she refuses to take them off. For a time I had to put a stop to these little heels because she was getting blisters (smh). But that’s her personality, it's caring, flashy, and it's loving.

As I watch her grow I also see how much she looks up to me. She copies and does everything I do. She sits and watches me get ready and does the exact same thing when she plays. It’s to a fault because she has repeated things that she heard me say, some good and some bad. Adrian sometimes curses and does she repeat any of it? Nope. But when it comes to me she copies everything. Knowing this I have to be careful not to pass things down that I know I’m still working on, like reacting to my emotions too quickly or letting out my frustration by isolating and crying. I want her to have good emotional intelligence, patience, and logic. Most of all my main task as a mother is showing her that she is worth more than rubies.

We are raising her to be a Godly woman

As I look around in today’s society I see a lot of things that can easily confuse her worth and purpose. I know many may not agree but we are raising her to be a Godly woman and that means going against the grain of today's standards. There is such a thing as right and wrong, such thing as sin, and every time she commits a sin it does not please God and she must strive to be like Jesus. At the same time, there is nothing she can do that can separate her from the love of God. Her father in heaven will love her no matter what, just like he loves you and me, but he doesn't love sin. It’s an important concept that I’m trying to teach her that although she makes mistakes it does not define her worth.

Walking a Godly path is not easy and I must teach her that. I must treat her with respect so she can also respect herself and demand respect from others. Adrian also teaches her accountability, respect, and that she must do what is right even if it’s hard. Part of what I pray she understands is that even though she may go through disappointments in life her worth rests in her father in heaven, but only if she gives her life to him. Every Easter we work really hard on helping her understand who Jesus is and why he died for her. We have to explain the concept of death in order for her to understand the true meaning of Easter. She knows that if you’ve accepted Jesus in your heart and believe that he came to die for you and me then she will go to heaven. She knows that although there is death Jesus restored hope when he rose three days later.

So my job as her mother, aside from keeping her safe, teaching her to be kind, to respect others, and to be a good human being, is to show her who Christ is. Not just by telling her but living it everyday, by loving others, respecting my marriage, and serving God. Recently she has learned what it means to have quiet time. During quiet time she sits with me and colors while I read the bible and pray. These are the types of examples that will help her know how to build a relationship with God.

Her worth comes from God and nothing she does can separate her from that Love.

So Mia is an innocent, loving, and caring girl. She copies and looks up to me and I love that, but I also understand that it comes with a lot of responsibility. That responsibility is carried out by my daily life and teaching her about God. So every night when I tuck her in and we pray together, I pray that she always knows that her worth comes from God and nothing she does can separate her from that Love.