#girlmomstories

One of my favorite authors, Stacey Thacker has started a new series called #girlmom or #girlmomstories  The stories are short but powerful and capture what it means to be a mother of a daughter or daughters.  You can check out one of her websites mothersofdaughters

So here is my #girlmom story which came to me at a moment on the beach last week.

As I sit here four years later, I think about how many people were praying for our miracle.  Four years ago we left a South Carolina beach wondering if all those prayers and all that hope worked.  As shocked as we were, God answered our prayers and many other prayers that we prayed. Our daughter was loved before she was born, not only by us but family and friends.  We were blessed with our now, one and only daughter, a little bit early but she came into this world a fighter and still is today.  She will be our one and only, and completes our family of three plus our dog.  Since she is our one and only I will be her mom, best friend, mentor, tea party guest, restaurant guest, Little People player, car race zoomer, and the sibling that she will never have.  Her constant chatter, singing, sometimes crying, and laughter fill our home where silence once filled it.  She has taught me many things in the past four years- patience, hope, love, grace, and to believe.  So when we returned to that South Carolina beach last week, so many memories flooded my mind.  From the hope that we had a chance, to the memories we have made at that beach each year (except one year when she was a baby we didn’t go). I think my favorite memory this year was of her making footprints in the sand and watching them wash away.  I captured that moment because I couldn’t resist…because those tiny footprints are next to mine and when they are hers alone they can take her anywhere as long as she believes.  Her solo footprints reminded me of the poem Footprints and the last paragraph, “The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child. I love you, and I would never, never leave you during your times of trial and suffering. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.” Those tiny footprints she made will carry me in my weary moments as her mother. She is loved to the moon and back and one day she will realize how special she is and how much she has taught me. We have written the first few chapters in our own #girlmomstories and being a #girlmom which I hope we can continue to write…