Superpower #15: Holiness

I'm including here the letter I wrote for you when you made your "God's Time" (Kairos) retreat your senior year. Perhaps you have saved it somewhere, perhaps you have not, but I think it is worth preserving in this memento. Many of the stories are repeated because they are some of my favorites. You've probably heard them repeatedly over your growing up years, and for that I can't say I'm really sorry. Those memories are a delight to my heart and though they may make you roll your eyes at the repetition, I'll never stop enjoying my recollections of you.

Is holiness really a superpower of yours? Probably not among the first and foremost, but I hope I've instilled a love for Jesus and a deep faith you can lean on to power your future. Cultivation of this superpower will never be wasted.

March 2024

Dear Claire,

You were born underwater.  I don’t know if you remember me telling you that, but you were.  You had a shock of dark black hair and it stood straight up once it was dry like you were an Eskimo baby.  Everything about you seemed lucky.  You were our 3rd child born at 3:33 on a hot Thursday in July and I don’t remember you ever crying.  It’s like that first early bath washed away all the crankiness and irritability that most babies have and left behind only your wonder and excitement at being alive.  You used to wait for me to pick you up in your crib in the morning without even crying.  It was like you knew how much you were loved and could wait for someone to come for you.  As you got bigger, you would greet us with a big smile and pull yourself up on the bars, bouncing with excitement and raising your chubby little arms up with so much enthusiasm to greet the day.  I wish we had made your middle name Joy.  

As you have grown, I have waited and worried for that joy to wear off or wear down.  Your open armed approach to the world is my favorite thing about you.  I remember once taking you and your siblings to the pool and watching each of you enter the water in a way that was so indicative of your personalities.  One of you was cautious, one was confident and efficient, and one leapt in with shining eyes and a beaming smile.  Guess which one was you?

Thank you for sharing that joy with the world.  I used to tell you that your superpower was making new friends.  Everywhere we went, Claire had a new best friend, most famously when you were about 3 and we were spending a long weekend at Lake Okoboji.  You came up to me and asked to go on a boat ride.  “We don’t have a boat, honey,” I reminded you.  

“I know, but my best friend does!” you announced cheerily.  

“You have a best friend here?” I asked.

“Yes, she’s downstairs.  Her mom wants to talk to you.”  Sure enough, you had found a friend with a boat and sweet talked a ride for yourself and your older brother and sister.  Everywhere you go, people are drawn to you. This is a gift that you should recognize and take seriously.  Always use it for good—to encourage and comfort and lead—and use your confidence and friendliness to make sure everyone is noticed and included.  God gave you that joy and that superpower for a reason.

He also gave you a great gift in your athleticism.  We realized this early when we continually had to rescue you off tabletops and counters because you loved to climb.  We nicknamed you “the Taz” (short for Tasmanian devil) when you were a toddler because you were always moving and into something. As you got bigger, and started joining organized sports, we discovered that we shared a great love of basketball, and sharing the sport and all the triumphs and defeats and excitement over the years has been such a gift to me.  I am so proud of your accomplishments on the court, but, more, I am proud of how you always conduct yourself with integrity and humility.  You are a great player but, more importantly, you are a great person. 

As you make your Kairos retreat this weekend, really slow down (this is one of your biggest struggles.  Well, that, and keeping your room clean).  God is in the stillness and the silence, and our busy, modern lives leave so little time for reflection.  You have a lot of big decisions and steps coming up in the next few years, and you will need Jesus’ guidance along the way.  In case you worry that this will be too tough of a challenge for you (the slowing down part, I mean.  You are more than up to the big, wonderful life He has planned for you), I want to share with you some wisdom I learned at a similar retreat about 20 years ago.  A young nun described the connection between God and happiness that literally changed my life.

“God is love,” she said.  “And God made us out of love and for love.  He knows what we want and what we need before we do. He wants to pour this love over us, but we have to listen.  We have to ask.  We have to seek holiness, because in holiness we find Him and the happiness he wants for us.  Perfect holiness and perfect happiness are the SAME THING!”  

Remember this, as you seek Him this weekend.  He wants to multiply the joy that is at the core of your being through a relationship with you.  Being holy means being happy, and we all want that for you more than anything.

Claire, being your mom is truly one of the greatest gifts of my life.  You are the joy of my heart and of our home. I am so grateful every day that God gave me you.

I’ll be praying for you this weekend (and always) my CC, my Taz.  

May God bless you always, my beloved girl.  

I love you,  Mom