Proud Enough To Let You Know

My daughter said something the other day that broke my heart. She told me she never felt like her dad and I were proud of her. This has weighed on my heart for the past few days. There are countless things that make us proud of her. But her reality is that her mess ups have overshadowed her successes. That needs to change!

I sat down with her and read her some of the blogs where I tout her creativity, strength, and faith but she still focuses on her missteps. The reality strikes me that it is not us who she needs approval from but herself. What she needs desperately is to look back at what she has walked through and how she has gracefully survived. Life has not been easy, mistakes have been made but her resilience and faith moves her through even the toughest of times.

At a tender age of 21, Natalie has endured and conquered situations some of us don't have to face in a lifetime. She has overcome bulemia , grieved a beloved brother's suicide, reconnected with birth parents and their extended families, and coped with cerebral palsy from her early birth. When she looks at her wrong turns along the way she feels defeated and unworthy. What she needs to see is the story she has created with Christ as her center. We all lose focus and our way what matters is how we find our way home to the values and people that matter most to us.

The truth is none of us tell each other enough how proud we are. We mistakenly believe that sharing our pride with others about them will somehow be sufficient. I constantly brag about my kids to others when it is my kids I need to be sharing my feelings with. Letting them know will not give them big heads but will give them full hearts.

In Him,
Joyful