Her

As I understand, it is Women's History Month, and blogging etiquette dictates dedicating a blog a week to influential women in our lives. I can manage at least one such dedication - I'm not so good with etiquette or rules, in general. My precious daughter, Sarah, has been the woman who has guided my life, directed my morality and saved my sanity...even before she was a woman.

Because of my child, I have tried to be a living example of truth and justice. Even when decisions have been most difficult - and especially when they are - I always have Sarah in my mind...what would she think if I did this? what kind of message would it send her if I did that? The choices that I have made - and continue to make - are always surrounded by her and what she will learn from them and what she will think of me as a result. In this way, she has made life quite easy for me; the knowledge that she watches what I do and say, has forced me to strive to "do the right thing" in all that I encounter - she is as powerful as the threat of Hell for me!

As she has matured into the fine woman that she is, my daughter has provided me with a living example of truth and justice. In the face of adversity or the possibility of exile from friendship, she continually remains true to her ethics, her morality and her faith. Knowing what is important and valuable in this world, she is a lighthouse in a sea swirling with dishonesty and disrespect. Sarah is my own, personal guide in life!

In ways, big and small, my child has saved me from myself; she has preserved my sanity (although, I know, at times, it is a very-nearly-unraveling rope that I hold!). Honestly, and I do not know how else to be, I believe that God sent her to me to allow me the opportunity to change my life, to make me better, to permit me to overcome. And she has done all of that - and so much more - for me. I thank God for her; I thank her for her. I love her completely and absolutely and unconditionally. She is the woman who has most influenced my life.