God's faithfulness

My daughter will not like one bit that she is my subject in this blog, but I will beg for forgiveness later. By all reasonable accounts she should have major issues. Yet, by the grace of God, she is pretty normal (except for a warped sense of humor and an uncanny gift of sarcasm!). Let me rephrase that. She is very pretty and she is anything but normal. She's extraordinarily awesome!
We butted heads often in her teenage years. It could be that we're both rather stubborn and we both have a tendancy to think we're right about most things. Yet the similarities end there. Thinking of myself at her age, I will readily admit that I could not hold a candle to the character and wit she displays. I'm very proud of who she has become, but I can't pat myself on the back or take any credit for that. It would be more appropriate to give God the glory for who she is. She will turn 21 in about a month. While the world considers that an adult, she will always be my baby!
I am blessed to have read Stormie Omartian's "Power of a Praying Parent" when Kristen was young and actually listened to the audio of the book repeatedly in my car. It helped me begin praying proactively for God's protection and blessings for her life; that at every important juncture in her life God will give her wisdom and discernment to make the right decisions or place the right people in her path to help her. One of my prayers for her is that God will always teach her gently. I know there will be times when she will have to grow through adversity, as we all do, but I am ever grateful for her love for the Lord and her bent towards obedience. My hope is that those two admirable qualities are always prominent in her heart and mind. When she finds herself in a desert, my prayer is that the Living Water will spring forth from her heart to sustain her. Yes Lord, please teach her gently and shape her into your image. But if she ever has to endure a desert, let it be like Desert Mountain; where beauty and blessings abound and you find yourself thanking God for it.
Is my daughter perfect? Of course not. But is she a wonderful blessing and a reminder to me of God's faithfulness? Absolutely! I thank God for you Kristen and I love you to infinity!