Beautiful Lilley Jane

I remember passing notes with my friends in junior high when we were thirteen years old and had the attitudes and quirky, self-conscious awkwardness of girls that age. Two of them are still my friends today, and I am constantly astounded by the fact that they now have kids. I watch them being moms and they are good at it, for all of the difficulties, fears, and insecurities that being a first time parent must entail. They love their kids and wrap them up in big hugs, they are patient with never-ending requests for that same book to be read over and over. We laugh and they roll their eyes about how they see themselves in their kids--in their humor and weirdness, in their sweet faces, and even sometimes in their stubbornness.

I just babysat one of those kids, whose name is Lilley and who I've claimed as my niece. She is 16 months old and about two feet tall. She loves dogs, even mine, which is two times her size. We walked around out in the front yard and as she was careening down the sidewalk (that's how she moves) she toppled over with me standing right next to her and got a scrape. My heart went into my throat and I decided we should hang out inside for a while.

Inside, she picked up the phone and was pretending to talk on it. "Ouh? Hehe. Shsh sh shs shh. Ah hah ah haa." She nodded her head and gestured with her hand as she tromped in her little white tennis shoes around the house imitating her mom talking and laughing on the phone. Spending time with her and watching this reminds me of God's grace--I'm not even sure why, but it does--which is always worth mentioning. She's this sweet little gift to all of us who know her.