My True Daughter in the Faith

I met Diana when she walked into my preschool room as a shy little girl. I have had the joy of watching her grow through some pretty hard times. One memorable day, she came rushing into my office in tears. Begging me to please go get her phone before it was confiscated by the office (I refused for the record, but her tears convinced another teacher to rescue her). Another day, the world was ending because she forgot her basketball shoes… the next day was the same. I started keeping shoes in my office for when she forgot hers…. As you can see, we’ve been through a lot. But nothing compared to the Sunday in October when I received a call from her. Diana’s mom had been in an accident and didn’t make it. There are no words adequate for times like that. Grief is just sucky. It’s such a hard thing to watch someone grieve, but also such an honor to be allowed in that space. Many late nights were spent in tears. With this experience came a friendship that can only be forged through heartache. As many of you personally know, you don’t “get over grief,” but you learn to live with it. And Diana has. She has become a strong young woman who doesn’t forget her gym shoes each day. Months ago, she became more than a friend, though. She became my little sister in Christ. Today, she followed through with that decision with baptism. The joys of watching a child grow in their faith and mature are incredible. This surely is what Paul felt about Timothy when he called him, “my true son in the faith.” And so dear daughter, my charge to you is 2 Timothy 3:14-15, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

P.S. The very person who helped her make this decision was baptised in this same pool just a couple of years ago. Another one of my students that I taught in preschool and again in high school... Jorge, I am so, so proud of you!