1,825 days to celebrate!....(and you know I needed a calculator to figure that one out!)

So, today is big.  For my baby that is.  Mariah Faith Soucie.  She is officially 5 years old today.  She is a bundle of love for sure.  We still call her snuggle bug,  because she still loves to climb up and tuck under...holding her pink blankie close.  And, she loves to throw back her head and belly laugh when she is being tickled by daddy.  I am so blessed to be her mama.

She too is a mommy at heart.  I honestly think she has asked for a baby doll and stroller every birthday and Christmas for the last 4  years.  Seriously, our home is a mini orphanage to many.  She puts my shoes on, gets her pretend cell phone and wraps those babies up in blankets ready to hit the road.  It's her favorite thing to play.

So it was no surprise when she asked for a double stroller this year.  And, she got it.  It's a beauty too...we took it on our errands yesterday and the babies had a blast!!  

She also got a pair of dress up shoes that I think are honestly nicer looking than the wedding shoes I wore 17 years ago!  I saw them in the store and knew they were going to delight her little heart.   They did. 

No, these shoes are not the plastic kind that squeeze your toes and are so slickery on the bottom that they come with a warning label...., these are the modern day dress up shoes.  The real deal in tiny sizes.  And, when she wears them she feels grown up and like a princess, and clomps around in confidence!

You know, the older I get the more I have realized that it takes more than a pretty pair of shoes to make me feel that way.  Don't get me wrong, cute shoes, especially cheap and cute, are awesome.  But, even the fanciest of shoes don't change me when I wear them.  

See I think sometimes I wear the white bride-looking shoes...doing, saying, being, ...all that I want to be, all that I know I should be to please the Lord.  But, see, white shoes don't make me a bride.  I am a bride because my Heavenly Father calls me a bride of Christ. 

When I grab a hold of His truth and walk confidently in that, I am changed.  I have been chosen by the King?  whoa.  

I want to seek to please Him with my life not just on the days when I'm wearing "bride" shoes, but everyday...the common days.  I want to please Him on the inside, where it's just me and Him....on the middle of  a hot and long summer afternoon. When my pits are sweaty, my house is a mess and my friend in need, needs me.  Needs encouragement.  When my kids need my focused attention,  my heart needs time with Him, my husband needs me to listen.   In those moments, wearing last year's flip flops...I can walk as the bride of Christ, His Spirit empowering me to do all things well.