We've gotta find a daddy, don't we?

Some days I feel like I spend the whole day laughing at everything that comes out of my child's mouth. The things that she thinks, evidenced by the things that she says, are just plain entertaining most of the time. I even find myself having to duck behind corners to straighten my face so that I can re-enter the room and assume the disciplinarian role, when the sass begins to tilt over into disrespectfulness and an "opportunity to parent" arises.

Conversations with E these days are a true joy, though. Tonight was one I want to file away for sure. We were sitting at the dinner table, enjoying chocolate chip pancakes and cheesy eggs - a dinner she had requested and was enjoying. :) She was on her third pancake, and I was commenting on how well she was eating...

E: "Yep, I'm going to grow big."
Me: "You sure are. You're going to be big and strong."
E: "Yep, I'm going to be big and strong like you, Mama."
Me: "E, do you want to be a mommy when you grow up?"
E: "Yep, I'm going to be a mommy....We've gotta find a daddy, don't we?"
Me: "We sure do."
E: "I'm gonna marry my daddy."
Me: "Nope, sorry baby girl. Daddy's already married to me. We've gotta find you another daddy."
E: "Yeah, cause Daddy sings to you and does ballet with you."

I just love peering at the world through her eyes. I love that she loves her daddy, and that - for all she knows of marriage at this point - she's looking forward to being a mama/wife one day. And I'm especially thankful that the Lord has already set within her heart a desire to find a man like her daddy.

L and I have a little joke that #1 on the list of "what it means to be a Bost" is: A Bost gets married by the age of 23. To make a long story short, this has nothing to do with making marriage trite and rushed into, but everything to do with the fact that we ourselves would never trade the experiences we've had as "young marrieds" for anything - the Lord has taught us so much and made himself known to us, challenging us to grow and mature in ways we could've never done without each other. And as a wife, I've been able to grow, mature, fail, succeed, try, try again, try some more...all with the security of knowing that I have someone right there beside me, in the flesh, who is FOR me, who is praying for the Lord's gift of loving me unconditionally, who is never gonna leave me. The security of our earthly relationship has afforded me an incredible opportunity to become a person I never imagined I could ever be. And when I fail in every other realm of life, I get to come home to a man who first shows me unconditional love and then helps me sort through the failures and figure out what I need to take responsibility for, what I need to let go of, and what I need to take to the cross of Christ.

So, should marriage be jumped into lightly? No. Do I want E to marry the first single man she meets, if she's not married by the age of 23? Not at all. But do I want to encourage a desire within her to be seeking out her husband from an early age? Absolutely. Do I want to continue to model for her that a marriage worth having is one that is continually being refined by the Lord (so the earlier you start, the longer you'll have to actually enjoy it)? Without a doubt. :)