Friday, March 28, 2014

For Celine Jenae

My little girl is 16 today.  I'm aware of how old this makes me sound but, my how time has flown!  Not very long ago she was this pig-tailed cutie:

Photo Credit: Kleopatra Giannake

I barely blinked and she has become this lovely, kind and wonderful young lady:


She truly has been a delight to Scotty and I.

I wrote this story for her several years agoHer middle name, Jenae, means God has been gracious.  I love that!  

 

For Celine Jenae



Celine Jenae was a sweet little girl with pale skin, a lovely smile, and freckles sprinkled on her nose and cheeks.  She was the kind of girl people liked to be around because she had a kind and gentle spirit.  Her mother and father loved her very much.  They called her “Buggie”, because they thought she was ‘as cute as a bug’.

When Celine was an infant her mother would stroke her soft cheek and sing to her about how special God made her and how much He loved her.  She told her precious baby girl that He was always with her, for God is gracious.  As momma and baby rocked, Celine Jenae would close her eyes and sleep peacefully all through the night.

Before long that precious baby learned to walk.  Her father would hold out his arms and gently say, “You can do it”, as the toddler clumsily wobbled towards him.  When she became tired she would reach up and say, “Hold you”.  Her father picked her up in his strong arms and brushed her soft brown hair out of her face as she placed her little head on his shoulder.  She often patted his back as she lay there.  Daddy’s little girl felt safe when he was near.

Soon daddy’s little girl grew into a precocious preschooler.  She loved to play dress-up and she especially loved going to ballet class.  Her parents thought she was the best ballerina ever!  She sang and twirled in her fluffy pink tutu throughout the house.  She felt like a princess.

Little miss ballerina felt grown up when it came time to go to school!  She worked very hard to color inside the lines and she clutched her fat pencil tightly with her tiny fingers as she carefully spelled her name.  She was so proud when she learned to read!  Her parents told her that she was very smart.  She believed it when her mother and father told her she was beautiful – even when she lost her front teeth!  She smiled that lovely smile and skipped off to play, ponytail bouncing from side to side. 

As their little girl grew older she learned that not everyone thought she was a beautiful princess.  Sometimes other kids would say mean things that hurt her feelings.  She began to wonder, did God really make me special?  But then her mother would hug her tightly and remind her that God loved her and was always with her, for He is gracious.  That night, a content little girl curled up in her bed with hands tucked beneath her head and slept peacefully.

Much too quickly that sweet little girl became a moody teenager with cute hair, stylish clothing and an attitude.  Often she didn’t feel smart or beautiful and would roll her eyes when her parents told her so.  She didn’t always make the right choices.  This caused her parents to worry.  Her mother prayed for her, asking God to remind her little girl how much He loved her and how special she was.  The Lord reminded her mother that Celine would be okay, for God is gracious.

As she became a young woman, Celine Jenae had to make a lot of choices.  What should she study in college?  What kind of job would she have?  Whom would she marry?  What did she believe about God?  She had to choose to believe that she was smart and beautiful for the movies and magazines told her otherwise.  Sometimes she wished to be that little girl rocking in her mother’s lap again.  She wished her dad would once more scoop her up in his strong arms when she was tired and frustrated.
 
Suddenly she remembered what her mother had taught her about God.  She began to talk to Him and He talked back.  He told her that she was His child and that He loved her more than she knew.  When she felt frustrated, He reached out His hands and gently said, “You can do it”.  When she was tired, He carried her and she knew she was safe.  God’s princess smiled her lovely smile and slept peacefully all through the night.

When the young woman with the kind and gentle spirit became a mother, she had a beautiful little girl with pale skin, a lovely smile, and freckles sprinkled on her nose and cheeks.  The mother rocked her little girl and sang to her about how special God made her and how much He loved her as she stroked the baby’s soft cheek.  She would tell her daughter that He is always with her, for Celine Jenae knew that God is gracious.

Happy 16th birthday, Celine Jenae!

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