Dearest Little One,

Today, we laid on the bed staring up at the ceiling fan as it turned round and round and had one of our many ‘gab’ sessions.  I’ll admit it was a bit one-sided again (hopefully, not for long), but as I recounted our fun morning of shopping and other such nonsense, I looked into your soft blue eyes and you simply smiled at me; that sweet, ear-to-ear grin I’ve come to love so much.  But, what struck me was not just the beautiful spirit you already seem to display, it was that all of a sudden I caught a clearer glimpse of your innocence.  Untouched.  Unbruised.  No callouses yet from a weary world.  

And as a strong wave of anxiety and fear washed over me with a longing to protect and preserve this precious gift, I had to rise above it and once again commit you into God’s hands.  Oh dear one, for this protective mother it is so difficult to release the illusion of control I try to create.  But, instead of losing my grasp of you, I am actually putting you into the only hands that can truly protect you from harm’s way as He deems fit. 

What I can pledge to you, though, as your mother, is that I will fight for you.  I will fight for your innocence with a vengeance.  Within the best of my power, I will not let a stranger take it.  I will not let premature knowledge take it.  I will not let the media take it.  I will not let your peers take it.  I will not let YOU take it.  I won’t be flippant or careless.  In this dark, ugly world, I must be intentional and not sit back and hope someone else will pick up my slack as a parent.  

One day, you may curse me when I tell you what you are wearing is too short, too low-cut, or too tight.  You may get upset when I tell you it’s a 10pm curfew and I mean it...When I say you may not watch that movie or that TV show…When I say no to any boyfriends yet..No, I won’t drop you two at the movies...No, I won’t let y'all go upstairs alone.  

But, I hope you’ll believe me when I tell you that YES you are loved and YES you are beautiful and YES your worth comes as a child of God not from the opinions of this world, and, especially, when I encourage you that YES your purity is worth the wait, the struggle, the FIGHT.

So, even when I stand alone, I will fight for you and be the custodian of your virtue, until, I pray, one day you will join me and begin to fight for yourself.

With unending love,

Mommy