A little child will lead them

This summer I have the privilege of taking care of my 2 1/2 month old niece, Julia.  I have been spending every single day with her for the past 3 weeks and I already have learned so much about her.  I didn't realize she would already be such an individual who likes to be held a certain way, sleep a certain way and even eat a certain way!  Having the opportunity to bond with her is so precious to me and it's not something that I am not taking for granted.  I never thought about how much I'd learn from her and how much knowing her would implore me to reflect on my own character/spirituality...

Sometimes

when I watch her laugh so easily,

when I watch her sleep so peacefully,

when I watch her live so innocently...

It makes me want to protect her from all the not so funny, not so peaceful, and not so innocent things of this world.  It leads me reflect on my own life all the decisions I've made and how much I want to prevent her from making decisions that may hurt her.

And on the flip side, I envy how easy it is for her to love like she's never been hurt.  When you think about it, a newborn kinda has a fresh slate in order to do that and it encourages me to go back to that place where I can love others freely, the way God loves me, as though I've never done any wrong. 

I never want Julia to get hurt. I never want her to be harmed or heartbroken mentally or physically. I want to be there to tell her all the right choices to make but I know I can't be her God.  One thing I will encourage her to do is to allow every decision she makes to bring God glory; because the hard truth is that you can still get hurt even when you make valid efforts to guard your heart, but as long as you don't allow the hurt to define you & you hang on to the hope that out of every hurt comes good & most importantly, you continue to fulfill HIS purpose; HE is pleased. Your "hurt" is not worth feeling sorry for yourself but is it worth bringing HIM glory! These are my words of wisdom to my precious lil Julia!

I am confident that as long as she is in HIS hands, she will live life to the fullest and I feel so blessed to be a part of it!!

Julia with her protective big brothers; Jason (left) and Jaden (right)

Isaiah 11:6 ...a little child will lead them.