Hands

Dear Emma,
Five years ago, I was in awe of how tiny your fingers and toes were.
Five days ago, I can’t believe you turned five years old.
That’s one whole hand!
Through the short five years, your feet have already journeyed so many miles and your hands have accomplished so many things.
Now all I see are big girl hands and feet.

Your hands are who you are.
Your helpful hands can put away the dishes, put on your pajamas, brush you hair, brush mommy’s hair, neatly line up your dolls, buckle your sister’s seatbelt, be the zipper helper at school, hold the door open for strangers and pay with daddy’s credit card with just one tap.
Your expressive hands show love and even anger, from pulling a toy away from your little sister’s hands to reaching for your big sister’s hand after she has fallen down.
Your compassionate hands give, encourage, comfort, protect and fights for justice on the playground.
Your inspiring hands motivate me to keep writing even when I don’t have the words.
Your affectionate hands are an extension of your heart and there’s not a day that goes by without love in mine.

Your hands were created to tell a story.
I know there are times you feel like you don’t have a place or quite fit in.
I know you get frustrated when you feel like your abilities fall short of your big sister’s or when you feel like your abilities are bigger than your little sister’s.
Your hands will grow and there will be times it will feel too small and other times it will feel too big.
As your hands continue to grow, it will go through struggles to fit in and find it’s place.
Whether it feels like it falls short or feels like it was made for more.
Whether it feels big, small or somewhere in between, all hands fit into His story.

Your hand is who He is and was made for worship.
Do what your hands were created to do because they are an extension of who your Creator is.
It’s because of His Hands that you can create with yours.
It’s because of His Hands that you can express His love through yours.
It’s because of His Hands that salvation and eternity is yours.
In seasons where you just can’t help but to lift your hands in praise, to seasons where you just can’t even lift a finger, use your hands to pray and never doubt what His Hands can do.

Happy 5th Birthday to our one and only Emma.
Your hands are who you are and there is no other hand in this world like yours.
Helpful, expressive, affectionate, compassionate, passionate, powerful, playful, joyful, hugable, lovable, one and only, you.

I love the way your hands are now. I wish they would never change.
But I’m also excited to see them grow and do many more amazing things.
Whether you extend love, hate or indifference to this world, it’s in your hands.
And fully trust that wherever your feet go and whatever your hands do, yours will always fit perfectly in His.
Step by step, hand in hand, through and through, for your story, for His glory.
J