Last weekend I took Ella to see Beauty and the Beast at Middletown High School. Of course she insist that she wear her Princess Belle costume. Against my better judgment I allowed her to go as a princess. It was a special mother daughter day with my girl. 

I have been so busy with school stuff and church stuff lately I haven't had enough of those moments. I don't want my girls to grow up. I want to keep them little and in my arms and in my house and in my car. I want to make all of the hard decisions for them and keep their lives pure.  This world is out to get them, it is out to destroy them. And believe it or not it sends a very convincing message. But I am not buying in because I have two little girls that have to follow me. And they will not follow me to destruction - they will follow me to life.

Romans 12:1-2, "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

Father, I pray that I stand out. As much as I try to fit in please help me not to. I want to be like you. I want to serve you. Help me not to fall prey to the distractions of this world. Keep me purely focused on you so that my girls may follow me as I follow you. Guard their little hearts and minds. Wrap your arms around them and hold them so close to you. May they always trust in you. Bless them O'God. Thank you for giving them to me. May we honor you with our lives.