So...He is a She....

"Wait, are you sure?"

That's the first thing I said to our ultrasound technician when she announced that Junior was a girl.  And all at once a flood of thoughts came to me:  I knew it - I jinxed it by hoping so hard for a boy.  Oh my goodness -- it's revenge time... she'll pay back to me every wrong thing I ever did to my own mom.  Will Mr. Squire be less fun with a daughter rather than a son?  

And then, kind of like a warm knife cuts through frozen butter, I sensed what I believe was the Holy Spirit speak to me and say something along the lines of -- God doesn't make mistakes.  He has chosen this particular child for you.  

Somehow, that put things in perspective.  God has a purpose for putting this particular child in this particular family. Boy or girl, we are all meant to be together.  And that was the beginning of me coming around to the idea that Junior is a girl.  So now...all our references to "he" have turned into "she."  Mr. Squire says he is delighted all the same, boy or girl.  And that's (one of the million reasons) why he is going to be an amazing dad.

Parenting a girl.  Wow.  So different from parenting a boy.  So many things to navigate through:  protecting yourself against male predators.  The glass ceiling.  Gender bias.  Violence against women.  Eating issues.  Body-image issues (heaven forbid that my own issues cause her to develop her own! That is scary).  Society's objectification of women (a wrong committed by men and women alike).  Work/life balance.  The role of women in the church.  Finding a suitable partner -- one who is as wonderful as her dad (as if that is possible).  Oy.  

I feel like there are so many land mines out there.  Just thinking about this small handful of them makes my head spin.  But I suppose we shall confront them one by one, as the generations before us have.  And God will help us each step of the way.