excuse me, mama

Since becoming a part time stay at home mom in June, there has been a constant internal battle. One on hand, I am loving life and enjoying every second of staying home with Adeline. On the other hand, I feel like I need to be working every second of my life so that I can pay off the school debt that I have "earned".

Monday morning, Ryan let me sleep in while he woke up with Adeline. She came in the room to wake me up and was saying "excuse me, mama." She climbed up on the bed and again said "excuse me, mama." In an effort to encourage her manners, I responded quickly and said "Yes, Adeline." She said "excuse me, mama. May we please talk?" I said "sure, Adeline. What would you like to talk about?" After thinking for a minute, she replied with one single word. She simply said "Jesus".

Every night while putting her to sleep, she asks to be "rockied" and we sing "Jesus loves me". With her bringing up Jesus, I thought that it was a perfect time to teach her that Jesus really does love her. So I asked her. "Adeline, do you know that Jesus loves you?" In classic Adeline style, she did not give me the easy answer of "yes, because the bible tells me so", she replied in the most matter-of-fact way saying "Yes! Because I'm a princess girl!"

I can honestly say that I would not accept any amount of money to trade that most precious memory with my Adeline Grace.

Maybe it goes without saying, but I no longer feel that internal struggle. I rejoice because for this season, I get to stay at home with my daughter and teach her about Jesus, life, and what it really means to be a princess girl.