It's A Girl!

We decided to wait to find out the gender of our child until she was born. Because we had waited so long to conceive her, we wanted to sum up our journey with waiting to find out what we were having. So many people guessed, “prophesied”, and had their desires. Heck, we even had our own thoughts about our baby’s gender and it was so much fun planning for either a boy or a girl. Both sides of our families are full of little girls and we wondered if we would be the ones to break that pattern or to fall in line with everyone else.

On the day our child was born, the doctor gave my husband the honor of announcing what the gender of our child was. Because our baby was born via c-section, I was pretty groggy from the pain medication, but I know that I clearly heard my husband say, “it’s a girl!”

I was so surprised. Not because I didn’t want a girl but because I had convinced myself that we were going to have a boy. My heart started beating fast and I got butterflies in my stomach.

Although I lead a women’s ministry, I didn’t think that I had all the tools I needed to raise a daughter in today’s times. You see, as a woman myself, I understand the challenges that come along with being female in a world that doesn’t see them for who they are.

When I gave God my "yes" to lead other women to Him, I had no idea that He would make sure that yes started right in our home.

A year ago, our blended family got even more dynamic with our oldest child moving in with us full time after Hurricane Harvey. I knew that God was calling me to pour into her life in a more intimate way. When I was her age, I struggled so much with my identity and He was giving me an opportunity to give her what I needed at her age. I haven’t mastered that yet, so I thought that part of my assignment was enough for me to handle. I never thought that He would ask me to stretch even further with raising a little girl from birth.

If I can be honest, that’s what this blog is for, I was scared out of my mind. I knew that this was not just about by inability to style hair or apply makeup. This was one of the greatest assignments the Lord asked me to steward. He was calling me to steward the gifts that He placed inside of this beautiful little package. Who He called her to be was in our hands.

Psalm 127:4-5

4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

    are children born in one’s youth.

5 Blessed is the man

    whose quiver is full of them.

They will not be put to shame

    when they contend with their opponents in court

The Lord called our baby girl into the deep, but it was our responsibility to launch her there. I find it no coincidence that the year that the Lord pressed on my heart for Wives in Waiting to focus on identity is the same year I would give birth to a little girl that I would need to help guide in hers.

Helping to shape how she sees herself means negating who she isn’t. Everything that ensnared me in my past would need to come up and out, if it hadn’t. What frightened me the most was that I was REALLY about to see if I was REALLY delivered from the things that kept me bound for years. As a grown woman I spent a lot of years dealing with little girl issues. Things that I had collected or attached themselves to me, plagued the decisions I made and how I saw myself.

So, this assignment was one that I would need to stay on my knees for. While the other things I have been charged with (wife, stepmother, leader, minister, sister, friend, entrepreneur, etc.) are of extreme importance, this little girl comes with humongous responsibility. More than just ruffles and bows, her relationship with herself and her Savior.

We live in a world that oversexualizes and undervalues women in a way that convinces them their anatomy and what they do with it gives them the most worth. Loving this little girl really means I have to check the way I love myself. And there will be no faking, perpetrating, or pretending for an audience. She will learn what it means to be a woman from me, from birth moving forward.

The week she spent in the NICU gave me the opportunity to ask God to search my heart and reveal ME to myself. How I see myself, critique myself, improve myself, and love myself will be what she sees from this day forward. What was showing her?

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

When our bundle of joy was born, everyone debated on who she looked like. But the greatest lesson I can teach her is that she is made in the image of God. She needs to know that she is not defined by her external appearance, her family name, or where she was born. She is royalty because she is the daughter of the King of Kings. She will not be reduced to her sensuality or the attention/favor of men. She is priceless, worthy, and chosen.

The reality is that my daughter is the manifestation of what I’ve spent the last 6 years doing in ministry. God has called me to help other people’s daughters honor their commitment to God first. And now, He is calling me to walk alongside my own in that same journey. He wasn’t testing me, He was showing His own faithfulness. My assignment wasn’t for everyone except my home.

It’s always been about my home. When I finally surrendered my fears to the Lord, He showed that He loved me too much for me to not be equipped for this new season of life. Leading ministry for other women prepared me to raise these beautiful young women into who God says they are.

Now, the statement that made me head spin now melts my heart.

IT’S A GIRL!

With All My Love,
Mrs. Truscott