32 Years of my favorite Girl

32 years ago, I met a girl. As I got to know her, I realized this was not going to be an ordinary relationship. She needed me and I needed her but for very different reasons. She needed me to feed her, clothe her, keep her safe and show her the beauty of the world made by the One who is beauty. I needed her to widen my perspective on life, to make sense of the world, and to change my selfish myopathy. I needed her to refine me and make me more like the One who made her.

She no longer needs me – at least not in the same ways as she once did. She can feed and clothe herself. She now knows how to keep herself safe and how to care for her own life.  She sees beauty and color and is a joyful expression of the One who is Joy. I still need her for many more things than she needs me. I need her to remind me of her dad. I still need her to share her perspective, to hold me accountable, to paint for me, to sing for me, to teach me, to refine me as much as her existence has defined me.

I also used to own a cat. Or at least I had a cat that owned me. She looked to me to care for her in similar ways as the girl. The cat, however, never saw or appreciated the world the way the girl does. I am sure it is the difference between animals and humans made in the image of the exalted One.  No one expects it of cats, and the world really was not made for the cat; in fact, the cat is actually part of the space made for humans to treasure!

On the other hand, my girl has not only learned to see the beauty and color of the world, often she honors it and expresses gratitude for it and copies it. She creates and thinks, sings and plays in color.  She is a still that unique expression of the creative One. This 32-year-old wonder of a girl is an artist and a musician who reflects another Artist and Musician. The One who painted her into existence. The One who sang her into the world. Every day that she creates she imitates the One in whose image she is made.

Humans alone are attracted to beauty and are perhaps even responsible to notice it.  Sometimes we miss it. We are too busy or distracted. All of this is a choice, of course. We choose to perceive and respond to the beauty of the world, or we choose to ignore it. And of course we do a lot of both. All our days are better and richer when we appreciate the beauty of the world around us. When we go to a museum or walk along the beach, when we watch a sunset or the night sky, when we listen to Mozart or a baby’s giggles, we are reminded of and lifted to another realm. We see whispers and glimpses of the world to come. The place for the which we were made.

CS Lewis said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

 I met this girl 32 years ago and though she was small, she has made a larger-than-life impact in my life. She continues to inform my world and give my life meaning and beauty, just like the One she reflects. I am grateful for my girl who is a powerful gift, who points me to a bigger life both now and yet to come. Today I say thanks to the One who made this beautiful girl, who loaned her to me and who challenges me to both look for His beauty and to worship Him – the only One.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

Neither my girl nor I are perfect (though she is my good and perfect gift), but we are being made beautiful in His time. Neither my girl nor I are there yet but we keep pressing on to lay hold of the beautiful One. Neither my girl nor I need each other the same way or for the same reasons anymore but together we cling to the One who created beauty for us, and for whom we can live beautifully, and for the One who is making us beautiful.

Happy Birthday to Emily. #32 Have a blessed 33rd year around the Son!

PS –  Sweet Em, I remember when you were born; of course I do. I remember being afraid to be a parent at all, knowing I would make so many mistakes. but God had another idea. He knew I need to be refined and that there were lessons to be learned that could only be learned as a parent.

You have added such meaning and purpose to the world and I cannot imagine my life without you in it! Thank you for helping me know beauty and Jesus better!