Lessons learned from a six year old....

Faith has taught me so much, in her short six years.

Before I had kids...I thought that the parents were the one's who did the teaching!

Boy, was I wrong...

1. LOVE...... unconditionally....beyond words....totally.
(Like when she wakes up in the morning and reaches out to me for a hug and a kiss or when she carries her baby doll around and treats her like a real baby.)

2. NEVER....EVER.....Give Up! Even if EVERYONE else tells you to, even if medicine tells you that your child is worth....less... than other kids.

(Today, Faith saw me pull my pants down to go to the bathroom and she started trying to pull her's down, too. Embarrassing, yes, but priceless!)

3. Have JOY....every, single day. For the rest of your life! Find your joy in the little things...in the big things....but find it!

4. This is a big one.....SACRIFICE.... It's the name of the game we were forced to play!

Society has taught us all that we should be selfish, think of ourselves first, get ahead of others. But sacrifice is really the test of a true Christian...of a true loving person. Sometimes that means no dates for years or waking every couple of hours to make sure your child is still breathing. Sacrifice, to me is the ultimate test of love. I am humbled to say I have learned how to sacrifice, without condition...without resentment.

5. Be carefree and silly at least once a day! I love to see how carefree Faith is. She doesn't worry about anything...just like the lillies of the field. She wakes up happy and goes to bed happy. This has been a hard one for me, since her diagnosis, but she is working on me! Today, we made a big water mess all over the kitchen, in her bathtub, splashing our brains out!

6. Make up cute hair do's to get attention....for your hair..... not your wheelchair!

7. Leave the dishes....sometimes....they aren't going anywhere and if you die and some stranger has to come into your house...well.... you won't be caring anyway! I have had a hard time with this but I went 3 days without doing them this weekend!

8. Buy cute, frivolous clothes for your kid's...when they grow up you may not be able to afford them! And it's ok if they get ruined...they will grow out of them too quickly to get much use out of them. There are few things cuter than my girl wearing Liberty of London dresses and cardigans!

9. Brag every chance you get....who cares if all the other parents get annoyed with you! You gotta celebrate every little victory.... like helping to put braces on or taking steps in a walker! I am the best at this, every small accomplishment gets plastered all over the place until every one is sick of hearing about it!

10. Acceptance....the ultimate lesson learned. No words needed here.

Thank you, Faith, for all these hard lessons you have taught me! They were the ones that no one else could teach me!