shooting miranda

By Katharine Grubb 

This is dedicated to my daughter, Miranda.

Miranda is eleven, the second child and the second daughter. She probably gets the least attention around here. The reason for that is this: she isn't full of the witticisms and writing passions of her older sister, she isn't the math whiz her brother is, she's not the cute little penguin her other brother is, and she's not the baby. She is laid back and easy going. She wants to please me, so she isn't corrected. She is contrite when she is corrected, so we don't spend a lot of energy on bad attitudes. So, when it comes to reporting the daily drama to Daddy, Miranda is often omitted just because she's generally calm and obedient.

Because of this, I've noticed, that she's a little frustrated. She's been comparing herself to her sister and coming up short. Ariel's talents are obvious. They are big and loud and visual. Miranda's though, are quieter, like the fact that she is a favorite assistant in church nursery, or that she can memorize lists in an instant. I've spent a lot of time praying for her because I want to point out her strengths to her. I want to be able to say to her, "You're good at THIS! Go in THIS direction! No one can do THIS the way you do."

Slowly, the beautiful blessing of who she is is being revealed to us. In one way, she's shown a profound interest in music; she’s a mimic and can easily memorize. She learns audibly, so as of this week, we've just let her sit with a CD player and headphones, listening to anything she wants, because she really digs using her ears to learn. Last week, she spent hours looking at a dictionary. Then today, I picked up our Greek and Latin root word cards (you know, the kinds with prefixes and suffixes on them) to drill the kids. She lit up. She knows them better than anyone at the table. She doesn't want to stop when I get to 20, she wants to keep going.

Then all of a sudden it hit me - LANGUAGE! Miranda is perfectly suited for learning language! The audio learning, the memorization, the fascination with words and their meanings, God's plan for her must have something to do with language! Not necessarily creative work, but for the purpose of teaching it perhaps, or speaking it, or traveling or interpretation. This is who she is. These are her strengths.

We spent some time this morning speculating on what precise occupations would need an expert in languages and the more I talked about this, the more excited she became. And I saw it, the verse from Psalm 127:

3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons 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 enemies in the gate.

I told her, "Miranda! You are an arrow! It is my job to figure out where to shoot you!"

I'm telling all of you this because all of you need to be shot. Okay, that was poorly said. I mean, you need to know who you are, and then be launched out into the world to do great things.

You, like Miranda, are gifted very specifically. You have strengths that might be a little mysterious. Rest-assured, they look nothing like your neighbors’ or your siblings’. You are designed for a complete and perfect assignment, be it writing or be it something else.

If you don't already know what you were designed to do, take heart. For one, it is never too late to find out. Additionally, you are not a creation of your own making, you were made by a loving Creator who wants to shoot you, in a good way. I really, really love my daughter, but how much more God loves you! I can communicate these truths to my daughter and help her succeed in life, but HOW MUCH MORE does our Father love you and want to help you! I want to encourage all of you to seek God and ask him what your strengths are.

And you will be a great asset to the Family of God. Just like Miranda. 

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/hasm_b0950/#info