The following is an excerpt from the textbook we are using in my psychology class. The story moved me and encouraged me in the importance being a mom. I pray it does the same for you.

 

“Writer Calvin Trillin recalls an example of parental genuineness and acceptance at a camp for children with severe disorders, where his wife, Alice worked. L., a ‘magical child,’ had genetic diseases that meant she had to be tube-fed and could only walk with difficulty. Alice recalled,

One day, when we were playing duck-duck-goose, I was sitting behind her and she asked me to hold her mail for her while she took her turn to be chased around the circle. It took her a while to make the circuit, and I had time to see that on top of the pile [of mail] was a note from her mom. Then I did something truly awful. . .I simply had to know what this child’s parents could have done to make her so spectacular, to make her the most optimistic, most enthusiastic, most hopeful human being I had ever encountered. I snuck a quick look at the note, and my eyes fell on this sentence: ‘If God had given us all of the children in the world to choose from, L., we would only have chosen you.’ Before L. got back to her place in the circle, I showed the note to Bud, who was sitting next to me. ‘Quick. Read this,’ I whispered. ‘It’s the secret of life.’” *

What if every child believed they were this special to their parents? 

What if every child believed that since their parents were this crazy about them, isn’t God too? 

 I want my girls to know this about them. And not only that Gene and I would have chosen only them, but that God has chosen and loves them like crazy as well. It’s easy for all of us to forget.

I want to spend the rest of my days showing my girls how loved and special they are to God and Gene and me.

*Trillin, C. (2006, March 27). Alice off the page. The New Yorker, 44, quoted in

Myers, David G. Psychology Ninth Edition, New York City: Worth Publishers, 2010. Print.

Brenda Garrison is an author and speaker who empowers women with the confidence to live their calling. Brenda is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Ministry Leadership with a Concentration in Women’s Ministry at Moody Bible Institute. She and her husband, Gene, are the parents of three young adult daughters and live near Metamora, IL.