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| My amazing daughter brings me so much joy! |
If you've never had a Jacque hug, then you haven't felt true love. The thing her daddy and I missed the most when she went off to college was our Jacque hugs. She is forever our Baby Jacque, no matter how grown up she thinks she is. I also missed our "I love you more" contests. She always seemed to one-up me with something like, "I love you to infinity and beyond," or something else immeasurable. She would be proud that I just used thesaurus.com to find the word "immeasurable." Jacque loves language, and she writes with a giftedness that inspires her readers. She also loves to read, and her imagination enables her to travel the world and the universe. Her intelligence impresses me. She is just an amazing girl.
Jacque's spiritual giftedness lies in her servant heart. "I just really enjoy helping others, Mom." Her freshman year in college, she started her professional organizing business "Sorting Etc." She combines her helping skills with her slight tendency to be OCD and creates workable systems for people to gain control over their cluttered lives. She has this incredible gift of bringing calm out of chaos as she helps others make life-impacting decisions. Jacque's favorite thing about her high school years was being a mentor to girls younger than her. She beamed when they called her "Mom." Her inspiration comes from drawing out the creativity hidden in others, especially when others lack confidence in themselves.
It has been fun for me as Jacque's mom to see her personal confidence flourish. Jacque is naturally shy and introverted; so it was super fun for us to watch her first solo performance of her original oratory at a drama competition. Her natural sarcasm oozed from every syllable as she delivered her speech. It was delightful to hear the audience laugh at her wit. She usually saves her wisecracks for close friends and family. Jacque's greatest triumph was winning a medal for being State Runner-up in drama. Jacque's confidence also grew by leaps and bounds as she participated on her academic team. She claims that her greatest high school accomplishment was being the captain of her academic team her senior year. She was proud that she could put her communication and encouragement skills to good use as she helped her team excel.
Some may find it hard to believe, but Jacque was a very stubborn child. If it wasn't her idea, Jacque would not do it. Her number one trick was that she would not smile. "I lost my smile," she would pout, and it was everyone else's job to hunt for the elusive happy face. Most often, we could find it hidden in someone's pocket. Her grandma and I like to blame her stubborn streak on her daddy, because her mama was as compliant as they come. "I don't know how you do it," my mom would say. Well, I'll tell you how I did it, I prayed and prayed. I prayed that God would shape the stubbornness in both of my children into the God-given character of persistence. I prayed that God would use that trait to mold my children into leaders and not followers, to be people who could stand up for what was right in the face of strong opposition. I am especially grateful that God heard my prayer and answered it one hundred percent.
So, now that my Baby Jacque really is all grown up and busting the curve in all of her college classes, I am still praying for her. I pray that she never gives up on her dreams. I pray that she pursues her love for God with passion. Jacque has always loved Jesus, and I miss the songs she made up as a little girl about how wonderful his love for her was. I pray that Jacque can see and hear God as he guides her toward her future. I believe he has huge plans for her, and I don't want anything to get in her way. My heart hurts when she hurts, and I hate it anytime she has to struggle through stressful times. I want life to be easy for her even though I know the best learning takes place in the classroom of adversity.
I want the whole world to see what I see in my amazing daughter. I pray that God surrounds her with people who return the favor of encouragement that she so willingly offers to others. I pray God brings her the perfect mate designed in God's image and that he will love Jesus first and Jacque a very close second. I pray he treats her like the princess she is, because she is a daughter of the King of kings. I pray they will have a love relationship like Jacque's daddy and I do. I pray they can serve God with the power of the Holy Spirit and be world changers. I pray that Jacque will have the courage to change the world in spite of the people around her. I pray that Jacque will know and believe that she is the amazing daughter I know her to be. Being Jacque's mama is the greatest assignment I could ever hope for, and it brings me unending joy!
