Five Little Girls

Hayden Block, Sadie Wachob, Trinity Green, Ellie and Olivia Tolson

I thought I'd share another little essay today... I wrote this one a few weeks ago, but last week we actually did get all five girls together and manage a photo. Aren't they all amazing?

Five Little Girls All In a Row

Shuffling through a stack of summertime photos, I smiled as I lifted out a picture of five round-bellied mamas standing side-to-side. Dancy was at the front of the line, her twin girls –Ellie and Olivia - easily filling out the folds of her maternity blouse. Jen was due only a few weeks behind Dancy, but her athletic figure camouflaged Trinity’s growing form. Tiny Becca carried Hayden all out front – a thin form with a perfect basketball tummy. I had tucked myself behind Becca, looking ever-so-slightly rounded at twenty-four weeks.

Time had passed so quickly. Those bulging bellies had disappeared. Our arms now held bouncing baby girls, and it would have been nearly impossible to coordinate all five schedules for a photo opportunity.

I stared again and thought of how different the four posing mamas were, different in temperament, different in shape and size, and different in talent. I realized those differences carried over into the lives of our growing girls.

Little Ellie carries the wisdom of an old woman in her countenance. She is beautiful, and while she is slower in development than her twin Olivia, she seems to process the world with a mature thoughtfulness. Olivia is petite and pixie-like. She scoots from place to place on her tummy, using her little arms to propel her tiny torso forward and back. Early on, Olivia was the complacent, easygoing twin; now she’s finding her place in the nursery world.

Trinity is a firecracker. She has the sweetest shock of dark hair and dancing eyes. A feisty little fighter in the beginning, her personality has tempered as she’s grown, and she’s finally sleeping through the night . At almost eight months, she sits up unsupported and rolls continuously.

Hayden is wiry and active. At seven months, she crawls all over and pulls up haphazardly on anything within reach. She weighs just fourteen pounds, and yet she began sleeping through the night only three weeks after she was born. Her physical talents are already so evident; will this tiny tumbler one day be scaling rocks or aerial skiing?

My Sadie is the youngest, at six months. She is also the biggest. Sadie is long and solid and relatively immobile. She is placid, content, happy. Her laughter is contagious and her smile is utterly charming. She is an easy, unflappable baby .

Yes, if we lined up the five little girls in a row, the differences between our offspring would be clear. Blonde, bald, brunette… blue-eyed, brown-eyed… content to sit and smile, eager to scamper off on an adventure.

With our daughters so close in age, it is easy to compare. I find myself watching Sadie and wondering whether she will ever catch up to ambitious little Hayden. She seems slow to progress, slow to catch on to new skills. The over-achiever in me wants to hurry her along. I want my child to advance as quickly as her peers, not lag behind.

And yet, I wouldn’t trade my sweet Sadie girl for anything. I wouldn’t exchange her happy-go-lucky personality for a skill set.

A holy, creative God knit together the lives of each of these baby girls. He fashioned their DNA with His almighty hands. He created them! Just as they are: unique in their abilities and their demeanors, alike in their worth to Him. Each of them is formed in His image; each of them reflects a tiny piece of who He is.

I am reminded of Isaiah 45:9, where the prophet writes, “Does the clay say to the Potter, ‘what are you making?’” It is not my job to question the creative work of my God. It is not my job to compare my child to others. I am called to embrace my baby girl – just as she is – and revel in the miracle of her individuality. God created Sadie perfect for His purpose. As she opens her heart to Him, He will fulfill His purposes in her life. He will use her unique gifts for His glory.

Maybe someday we will line up five adult daughters and marvel at their differences, at all they have achieved and become as they’ve surrendered their lives to their Creator, at the way their individual lives glorify Him. And when we do, it won’t matter whether they crawled late or talked early, whether they were A+ overachievers, athletes, or bubbly social leaders. Just as they are, their lives will bless their God, and their world.