I can not express how full of joy my heart is today. Kylie made the decision to give her life to Jesus December 22.

Here is a little background on Kylie. We have always let her make her own decisions in her own time. She didn’t want to go to her age bible classes. She stayed with us in “adult” worship until she was six. We would always ask her if she wanted to go and she went a few times here and there but always came back to us.  Then one day she went and has never looked back. 

Kylie has always been active but always loved individual sports. She liked running and racing. She liked throwing baseball and football and shooting basketballs but did not want to play team sports. Then she turned seven and said she wanted to play basketball. Then she played soccer. Now she wants to play flag football. She says she wants to be the first female NFL quarterback. Who are we to say no? She will either work and practice hard enough to do it or she will find something else. 

I think because we, as her parents, had ten years in between our middle girls and Kylie, that our perspective on parenting has changed. We give Kylie control of her decisions and we support her win, lose, or draw. If she says she wants to jump off the house, we say do you think that is the smart thing to do? 99% of the time she makes the correct choice but we have given her that responsibility. We have given her self-confidence and a love for herself. We give her enough room to find herself as well as pull her in close so she knows she is loved and knows who God is and what it all means. Yes, she is still a a young girl and drives us nuts sometimes but she makes parenting easy for us.

Of course, we are not alone in helping her along the way. Our wonderful church and the staff and volunteers and church members at Westerville Christian Church are amazing and talented people. It takes a village to raise a child and we have the village to help us.

Kylie doesn’t like to miss church. We can go on vacation and she will get upset that she will miss church. I believe God has already used her in our lives. (More on that on a later post). I see how she treats other kids and I can see her compassion and empathy she has for others. I see how she cares about others. She has even volunteered to help out younger children in our church. She always seems to be filled with joy and I see others gravitate to her naturally. She asks questions.

We have brought up the issue of baptism many times over the years and she always said no, not ready. She wanted to finish her book about baptism and make a decision for herself. When it was her time and she chose to be baptized, she was.  On December 22, she made the most important decision of her life. 

I pray that she will choose to live the life she has chosen to live. I pray that she will always look to the one who loves her unconditionally and who will always accept her.

Something In The Water by Carrie Underwood – 

Changed by Rascal Flatts – 

Cold Water by  Tanner Clark – 

Baptism by Kenny Chesney w/ Randy Travis- 

Beneath The Waters (I Will Rise) by Hillsong – 

Jesus, Lead Me To Your Healing Waters by David Crowder Band – 

Muddy Water by Trace Adkins – 

Nothing But The Water by Grace Potter – 

Washed By The Water by NeedtoBreathe – 

What Water Can Do by Jonny Diaz – 

Give My Life Away by Big Daddy Weave – 

Give My Life To You by Elevation Worship –