THE OBEDIENT CHILD

My firstborn child was born a compliant, obedient, people-pleaser, very different from my second born who was the total opposite, strong willed and independent or at least she willed to be. My firstborn was quick to pick up on every expectation that her Dad and I had of her. Even when we did not expect perfection, she made it her life's ambition to strive to be the best that she could be to please us. In many ways this worked out to her advantage, but it also became a tremendous burden that she has carried all her life. She has been blessed in many ways because of her heart's desire to do it right. From an early age, she was thrusted into a leadership role from the time she gained her younger sibling. Being the firstborn she was naturally reliable, well behaved and competent in all that was ask of her.

            

She being the oldest, tried taking on the role of nurturer to her younger sister which in turn, taught her a great deal of responsibility and broadened her perspective on how she would handle things in her adult life. I often noticed how she served her friends and church family in her sweet quiet way, away from the limelight, without doing it for show. She did it because she cared deeply for them, not because of any praise she may have received. She was the invisible well behaved child, compliant and hardworking, but not demanding or attention-seeking, empathetic, helpful nature and desperate to please kind of child. Because of her good, non-self-seeking nature, she often times felt overlooked. But what she failed to realize was that, she always had her parent's eye on everything she did.

            

While I may have been looking out on a sea of faces, hers was the one that I saw. My whole being swole with pride then and now whenever I think of her. She is the very perfection of woman to me and not because of her outer beauty though she is very lovely, but because the heart that she has toward the treasure that she consistently seeks. Psalm 46:5 says, “God is within her, she will not fall.” and Proverbs 31:25 says, “She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” This is my oldest daughter, strong, courageous and not afraid, because she know that the Lord is with her wherever she may go. She has always enriched the lives of those around her. When she would see that someone was sad, she would seek to cuddle them and offer them a sweet from her secret treat stash. When someone was working on a project, it was she that always rushed in to help. She is still that way today. I love her deeply!

            

May the Lord help us all to be the obedient child of 1 Peter 1:14 and make it our lives desire to be more like Him.

Hold Fast,

-Bren