My Pearl Turns 11
On March 27th, 2000 the Lord blessed my wife and I with our first child, Meaghan. She was so tiny, I called her "peanut." We also called her "squirt" because the doctor literally had to catch her as she shot out of the birth canal. Meaghan made quite an entrance! My life has never been the same.
Please indulge me as I write this post just for my precious daughter on the eve before her birthday.
Dearest Meaghan, we surely did name you rightly. Your Celtic name means "pearl." And, to me, you are an amazingly beautiful gem, and your life sparkles as it reflects the glory of your Creator and Savior God.
May God uphold you by His mighty right arm as you move away from girlhood and into womanhood. Some parents seem to want to keep their children in their childish years forever. Though I do have a great sense of how precious each day is with you because the time of your departure from my home is drawing ever nearer, I also want you to know your mother and I are intentionally raising you to become a woman sooner, rather than later.
May the Lord make you a lady whose heart always and forever belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. You shall never make the godly wife and mother that we so strongly desire you to be if you give away your heart to another lord other than Jesus. May God keep and establish you in the faith. May you never forget what is means to be "the called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ" (Jude 1).
May God grant you a heart that "hungers and thirsts for righteousness," for such a heart "shall be filled."
May the Lord give you an undying passion for His Word, for our Savior said "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." May you truly hide His word in your heart, that you might not sin against Him.
May you pursue holiness as a young woman, taking your view of a "successful woman" from Proverbs 31 and Titus 2. May God Almighty give you strength of spirit to reject the view of woman being given to so many young girls by Hollywood, our culture, college and career counselors, and indeed anyone who guides you away from what God has said about being a woman.
May King Jesus bless you with a man after His own heart one day. The Sovereign Lord has so obviously given you a sweet, submissive and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4) that is precious in the sight of God. You will by God's grace truly make some strong, Christ-exalting man an "excellent wife." He and your children will surely "rise up and bless you" in the Name of Jesus. Your mother and I can aim no higher than to raise you to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul", and to "love your husband and to love your children and to be a worker at home so that the word of God will not be dishonored" (Titus 2:4-5).
In all these things, you are already making us so proud. We worship the Lord today and each day as we watch you grow and mature in the grace and love of Jesus Christ. May you never forget you were created for His glory, for His pleasure, and for His kingdom. May the Holy Spirit always and forever consume you with a burning passion to "worship God in the spirit of holiness" through the blood of Jesus spilled out for you on the cross.
May God fix your eyes on Jesus, the Risen Lord, and help you live the "resurrection life" as you take up your cross daily to follow Him. Jesus is the Author and Finisher of the faith, the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is worthy of whatever acts of service He ever demands of you. Go with King Jesus to the gates of hell, to the jungles of Africa, or to your neighbors here in America, and spread the good news to everyone in your path that Jesus saves!
Your soft, compassionate heart is such a living testimony to the powerful grace of God in Christ. May the love of God pour out of your heart and into the lives of those around you. If God make it so, your beauty will only keep growing, and the glory you bring to the One who died in your place will only find new heights.
Oh Sovereign Lord, make it so. Be glorified in "my pearl." May she always and forever be willing to sell it all to follow the Pearl of Great Price - the Blessed Lord Jesus. Amen.
Happy Birthday, Meaghan. I love you. Mom loves you. Little 'Sis loves you. But above all, "Behold, what manner of love the Father has lavished on you, that you would be called the child of God."