butterfly. babies. love.

i find myself thinking a lot about the condition of this world, of this nation, and of the hearts of man.  i just open my eyes and really look around or open my ears to truly listen, and i cannot help but face the reality of evil. the reality of corruption. the reality of prejudice. the reality of inequality. the reality of bigotry. the reality of entitlement. the reality of self-righteousness. the reality of immorality. the reality of sin. i have struggled with the presence of these realities for a significant part of my life, and  maybe to some degree for all of my life. but now i struggle with them beyond my identity as a woman, or a child of immigrants, or an educator, or an indian-american, or a Christ follower. i struggle with these harsh realities as a mother. you see, we are trying our hardest to raise three people who will one day change their world. i believe that they can, and i pray that they will. these three little girls have hope in their souls and eternity i

my dearest elisea, you are our youngest. you are our forever baby and our little wonder. you are surrounded by love and adoration in our home. rocky has unending patience with you, your big sisters cannot get enough of your hilarious mannerisms, and daddy is clearly smitten. and me? i am consistently impressed and drawn to so many components of your complex personality. i find myself loving you in a special and profound way, on a daily basis. you see, little one, although you are our third child and our third girl, the experience of having you has brought something new to our lives. you are the youngest. you are not a twin. and so, you are different in many ways. you have an intuition about you, unlike i have seen in any other child your age. you are constantly the entertainer with your strong expressions and growing wit and humor. (you are currently on a mission to figure out what makes knock knock jokes so funny). you possess this strong maternal inclination and you lo