Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo

I must admit I received some incredible Christmas gifts this year. My parents gave me a new sewing machine, my best friend gave me an envelope revealing the sex of her unborn baby (so I got to see their baby girl even before she did!), and my sister made me a beautiful scrapbook with memories from our childhood. As meaningful as all of these gifts were, nothing compares to the gift I was given today.

This morning I made my way through the rain and cold to Starbucks to meet my friend Cez anne and my favorite red-headed 3 year old, Nik. It’s amazing how loved I feel with just those tiny arms embracing me! We sat laughing and talking and playing with all of the new iphone apps Cez and I had downloaded since our last visit. As if our time together wasn’t enough to make my day, Cez gave me the greatest gift, and honor, I’ve ever been given. She asked me to be Nik’s godparent.

I didn’t have a moments hesitation in accepting. When Nik was just an infant I spent most nights praying for him as I rocked him to sleep. I remember thinking that this little baby, this precious creature that fit so snugly in my arms, would grow up to be a man one day. He would have his own ideas and dreams and make his own choices. I remember asking God to protect him and remind him how deeply loved he was by his family and by me.  I remember praying that he would make the choice to let Jesus into his life. That he would realize the power of God’s love for him and live his life in response to that love. I remember praying that God would keep me in his life, to be someone he could turn to and count on.

I have no doubt that regardless of the title “godmother,” I would have always played a significant role in his life. I’m his Guppie! But there’s something so special about knowing this role isn’t self-imposed; that Nik’s mom wants and expects me to play a part in his spiritual upbringing, and that she views me as someone worthy to hold that title. It means so much to know that she looks at my spiritual journey and my relationship with God and sees something there that she wants her son to know about.

I am so privileged to have 6 (and a 1/2) incredible kids in my life that know me as Guppie, and now 1 that will know me as a godmother.  I hope they all see my relationship with God and want that relationship for themselves. I pray they can learn from my mistakes, and come to trust and confide in me with their own. I pray I can be someone who models God’s unconditional love for them as someone who doesn’t have to love them, but chooses to anyway.