Kellie’s Blog: And then everything changed.
Kellie’s Blog: And then everything changed.

What a WONDERFUL day!

I hope it’s not a surprise to anyone that my faith is important to me. I screw up. I sin. But I trusted Christ as my Savior and I was promised that I could never be plucked from His hand, despite my occasional bad attitude and my love for boy bands.

And when I became a mommy, I felt like my responsibilities were to make Emma Kelly feel loved, to keep her healthy and safe, and to point her in the direction of the cross. It’s a decision I can never make for her, but I wanted to make sure I did what I could to encourage her to make that decision for herself one day.

And now my Emma Kelly is 7 and a half — the half is VERY important, by the way. She said that as she was lying in bed at her daddy’s house, she asked Jesus to come into her heart and save her!! My heart is about to explode! My baby is now a baby Christian!! We went to meet with the children’s minister at our church, just to make sure she was clear on what this means. EK said, “When I was little, I’d ask Jesus into my heart over and over again, but I didn’t know what it meant. Now I know what it means, and I asked Him into my heart.”

I believe my little girl and I will spend eternity in Heaven! But unfortunately, we won’t be spending eternity together here on earth…

sharing-a-bedI have a confession to make. My daughter and I sleep together in the same bed. It was a bad habit I began when she got her first “big girl” bed. But then time went on, and suddenly she was entering kindergarten and I was still going to bed with her. I fussed about it every night. She’d cry and beg me to stay. It was our thing.

And then kindergarten came and went and suddenly it was summer. I told her, “Look. We can still sleep in the same bed for the summer, but you’re too big to be sleeping with mommy. So when you start first grade, you’re going to have to sleep in your own bed, by yourself.”

So first grade came along and she started up with the crying and begging again and I finally just relented. And you know what happened? I started to like sleeping with my kid at night! I love cradling her in my arms as she falls asleep on my chest. I realize it won’t be like this forever. She’ll be going off to college in a few years and I have a feeling she won’t be down for having mommy follow her to the dorm.

So I stopped saying anything. I started looking forward to bedtime, when my daughter and I could cuddle and talk about our day before we both drifted off to sleep. And then it happened.

“Mommy, I want to sleep in my own bed by myself tonight.”

I was devastated.

I asked her if she was sure. I hugged and kissed on her and told her how proud I was of her while simultaneously giving her puppy dog face. But she was sure. She made a bed for her stuffed kitten in the corner and then propped up her own pillows on the bed and made sure Snuggle Puppy was within arm’s reach. She said all she needed from me was a super huge hug and a really big kiss and then I could leave. And that’s what I did.

And tonight — just like that — my little girl grew up.