Last weekend as we kicked off our holiday season, the always controversial subject of "The Christmas Letter" came up. I like to write a Christmas letter every year . . . and Jenelle and Rachel like to make fun of it! In fact, last year they vetoed it altogether and wrote the Christmas letter themselves! Little did they know, I liked that even better. This year, however, Jenelle and Rachel both asked that I not write about them in the Christmas letter. Why? Because they hadn't done anything.
It's amazing to me how they can look at themselves and think they haven't done anything. I'm sure Jenelle just looks at her life right now as "one year of school after another" but when I look at her I see my little girl all grown up, focused, and moving forward toward the goal she has set for herself. And Rachel started school in October on top of raising a 1-year-old . . . which, as any of us who are parents KNOW, is a trying (albeit rewarding) feat in itself! Going to school may seem boring and uneventful to them, but I couldn't be more proud of them.
And certainly it's not just the school. Terri and I were talking in the nursery on Sunday about how fun it is as we start to see parts of ourselves in our children. I see Jenelle's passion, her love for worship, her creativity . . . and my heart just warms. She has picked up the baton and she will take it farther than I ever dreamed of. I love to write. She writes better. I love to sing. She sings better. I love creating dramas, planning parties, heading up social events. She does it all better. And I just couldn't be happier.
Then there's Rachel . . . remember the line on Friends where Rachel Green realizes she's just like her father? She said, "I was trying so hard not to become my mom, I didn't see this coming!" Rachel has always gloried in her individuality, but she has the heart of her dad. She is not one to just sit around and watch when someone is in need. She wants something to be done about it, and she will always do whatever she can do to help. Not only will she volunteer to be on a team, she is just as willing to head one up. If no one else is doing anything about it, she will. And that's so Leonard. I love to watch the two of them together. They dig in and work hard, no matter what the task. Rachel has a deep gift of compassion for the hurting and the oppressed, just like her dad. And although she has her hands full right now raising her daughter and going to school, Leonard and I can see the writing on the wall. Rachel will lead people out of complacency and into action . . . something the church desperately needs.
And now as Leonard and I get older, we find ourselves tempted to slow down a bit. Maybe a few less social events, a little less company. But now the tables have turned. It's the girls who are always right there, spurring us on, saying, "Come on, you guys! You used to be fun!"
And we have to smile. They're right. They should know. They're just like us.
It's amazing to me how they can look at themselves and think they haven't done anything. I'm sure Jenelle just looks at her life right now as "one year of school after another" but when I look at her I see my little girl all grown up, focused, and moving forward toward the goal she has set for herself. And Rachel started school in October on top of raising a 1-year-old . . . which, as any of us who are parents KNOW, is a trying (albeit rewarding) feat in itself! Going to school may seem boring and uneventful to them, but I couldn't be more proud of them.
And certainly it's not just the school. Terri and I were talking in the nursery on Sunday about how fun it is as we start to see parts of ourselves in our children. I see Jenelle's passion, her love for worship, her creativity . . . and my heart just warms. She has picked up the baton and she will take it farther than I ever dreamed of. I love to write. She writes better. I love to sing. She sings better. I love creating dramas, planning parties, heading up social events. She does it all better. And I just couldn't be happier.
Then there's Rachel . . . remember the line on Friends where Rachel Green realizes she's just like her father? She said, "I was trying so hard not to become my mom, I didn't see this coming!" Rachel has always gloried in her individuality, but she has the heart of her dad. She is not one to just sit around and watch when someone is in need. She wants something to be done about it, and she will always do whatever she can do to help. Not only will she volunteer to be on a team, she is just as willing to head one up. If no one else is doing anything about it, she will. And that's so Leonard. I love to watch the two of them together. They dig in and work hard, no matter what the task. Rachel has a deep gift of compassion for the hurting and the oppressed, just like her dad. And although she has her hands full right now raising her daughter and going to school, Leonard and I can see the writing on the wall. Rachel will lead people out of complacency and into action . . . something the church desperately needs.
And now as Leonard and I get older, we find ourselves tempted to slow down a bit. Maybe a few less social events, a little less company. But now the tables have turned. It's the girls who are always right there, spurring us on, saying, "Come on, you guys! You used to be fun!"
And we have to smile. They're right. They should know. They're just like us.
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