Today I am pinching myself. Our daughter turned 25 today.

I’m proud of her. She is completely self-sufficient. She works hard. She has her own place. She enjoys her giftings and puts them to good use.

I know few people who love animals as much as I do, but she rivals my affections for the critters, that’s for sure, and maybe surpasses them.

I think back on her girlhood years–the years of soccer practices, of youth retreats with church, of track and field events, of cheerleading, and of years in church together when she was just a little girl.

Now she’s all grown. But the older I grow as a parent, I understand more and more how we always long to keep them, in a sense, under our wings and shelter our offspring.

But we taught her well. She has grown to need us less and less, at least in certain ways, and that’s the way it should be.

Happy birthday, Taylor Ray. We love you. Enjoy your day.