I have a mini me at my house. Her name is Emily. Its quite noticeable how much she is becoming a lot like me. It stands to reason, I guess, since I’m one of the major influences in her life right now. She is turning 9 soon; she’s almost a young lady.
I noticed it Sunday morning in particular when we were getting ready for church. I looked at her, with her dark brown hair in braids, her broad smile and her dark brown eyes – I felt like I was watching a home video of myself…
Nowadays she is quite the little mother figure. She helps me a lot around our home. As she gets older I find myself saying things like, “Emily, watch Mackenzie while I’m in the kitchen making lunch…” or “Em, will you go downstairs and help Isaac for a minute?” She is a little replica of “Melody” sometimes… and I hear her saying things, phrasing words just like I do – and making facial expressions that make me feel like I’m looking in the mirror. Its almost scary.
So, I shouldn’t be surprised when she says things that make me cringe…. Often she’s making remarks that sound just the way I’d say them. Harsh words, negative thoughts, impatience – all with my hand gestures, to boot. Yes, there is nothing that opens my eyes to my own sin like my daughter’s imitation of me.
When I see all of this in action I am reminded how much I need to be a “mini me” of Jesus. I call myself a Christian. With that name, I should be an effective follower of Christ, right? It shouldn’t be a problem that there are 3 sets of little eyes watching my every action, right?
Ephesians 5:1&2 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Living a life of sacrificial love is wonderful to think about, but so much harder to accomplish in real life. If I could live more like Him, my daughter would have a better model to follow – maybe she’d be drawn to be more like Christ because of my example.
But, the truth is : being like Him can only be done because He loves me and by the grace that He gives me to follow Him. Only then do I find the courage to live out such sacrificial love. In the end its the only hope my little mini me has for turning out less like her mom and more like Him.
Heavenly Father,
Will you give me the strength to walk out this life of sacrificial love on a daily basis? Let me be the example that my sweet daughter needs. Please, help my life to point her to that love and grace that comes only from You. amen.
daily portion 
Melody…I think about this so much! It’s a great reminder for me. Angie gave me a book called Your Girl. I’ve been meaning to get it out because I want my girls to want to be Christ-like. Great post!