Ten years later...

When I was pregnant with my first child, I couldn't imagine what the age of ten would be like for her, even in my wildest dreams. What would she be like? Look like? What would be her interests? I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of being a Mom to a ten-year-old girl one day. Then again, I never imagined she would be born on a day like 9/12/01.

Like almost all of America, I saw the terrorist attacks being replayed multiple times on 9/11. Replayed on every channel, over and over, like a nightmare you couldn't wake up from.

The following day, as I lay in my hospital bed, preparing to deliver my precious, innocent, baby girl into this world, I had fear. Deep fear running through me. What kind of world was I bringing her into? If this level of hate was happening now, what kind of hate would she be witnessing growing up?

At the time, I was unaware of the magnitude of God's gifts. He blessed my daughter with an enormous gift of love and forgiveness. She forgives. Truly forgives. She forgives kids in school who bully her and make her cry. She loves everyone she meets. She wants to travel to China to tell others about Christ. The girl doesn't have an ounce of fear or anger in her body. Her two favorite things: Taylor Swift and peace symbols.

Tonight, as we were remembering those whose lives were taken on 9/11, we unfolded a newspaper that we saved on the day of her birth. As a family, we reread and relived the events that unfolded on that day. We prayed for the families who are still angry. We prayed for peace. We prayed for people to love people.

My daughter is the best thing that's ever been mine.

Although I can't raise her in a world of peace and love, I know that she is going to show the world PEACE and LOVE. Happy 10th Birthday, my little ladybug. You are something amazing! I love you!

*~*~* Dedicated to the lives that were lost on 9/11*~*~*