Clara -Episode Baptism Day

Choosing names has always been very difficult for my husband and me.  So, 8 years ago, when we both liked the name Clara, we decided that would be our baby's name if she was a girl.  We didn't find out the gender ahead of time.  We were living in Holladay, Utah, in the very same ward that Judd's grandparents used to live in, and there is a picture in the primary room with a plaque honoring his Grandmother- Lucille Pitts. So, we thought it fitting, since we were having this baby in that ward, to use the middle name Lucille.  When she came out a girl, we named her Clara Lucille. We didn't know what the names meant before we selected them, but that's important to me, so I looked it up.  Clara Lucille means "Bright, Bringer of Light".  For anyone who knows Clara, you know that this meaning fits her perfectly. The beautiful combination of those two names is like a little whispering from God to me saying, "Here is a special child.  And I'm loaning her to you. Let her light shine!"

Clara can be a difficult child- impulsive, loud, active, wild.  I thought she was going to kill me between the ages of 2 and 4. My journal is full of entries about her coating her baby sister with various substances like toothpaste, pudding, desitin, or markers. She was just really hard.  I remember nearly having a nervous breakdown when the nursery leader's husband brought her to me 30 seconds after I dropped her off, telling me she had just bitten his wife and she was kicked out. And I marched her back down and stayed with her the whole time, because, it's just not okay to kick a kid out of nursery.  Then the next week that leader asked me to substitute in nursery. Well, she asked me by voice mail. I didn't return her call because I was at my limit with my little spit fire.  I never got a break from her. NEVER!  We couldn't afford a babysitter. She was too young for preschool. I had a baby when Clara was 23 months old and I was really tired.  My oldest child was 8, and I had 5 kids.  It was a hard time as a mother.  Really hard.

Clara did calm down, somewhat. But, nothing can quench her spirit. That kid practically glows.  She's hilarious.  She once made a dollar picking the neighbor's flowers and then going down the street selling them to those same neighbors.

She knows EVERYBODY on our street, young and old, and it's mostly people a lot older than her.  She invites 50 year old neighbors to her birthday party, makes them presents for their birthdays, and visits them constantly.

Clara marches to the beat of an unseen drummer.  Sometimes I think it's a very slow drummer.  She doesn't know what it means to hurry, at least not when she's getting ready for school.

But, if she sees a neighbor out for a walk, she blasts out the front door to hug them and visit. It doesn't matter who it is.  She's just always been that way.

She really is a bright little bringer of light.  It's who she is.

And today she will be baptized and officially become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

My half joke about Clara has always been that she will be a powerful force in this world, for good or evil, depending on which she chooses.  But, I'm only half joking.  I'm joking about the evil part.  I know she will choose good. She has too much light in her to do anything else.  She is amazing. If you know her, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's kind of hard to describe. You really need to spend time with her.  You need to see her in action.  Like yesterday at the park, she spent the better part of an hour visiting with some kid's Grandma.  Last year she sewed a little basket as a going away present for her bus driver.  When she got an American Girl doll for her 8th birthday she walked around in a daze for two days, proclaiming over and over, "I know I'm dreaming. This can't be real.  Am I dreaming?"

Clara is hilarious.  She is unique. She is loving and more than anything, she is intense in her bright love for others, bringing the Light of Christ into every interaction. There are no strangers to Clara because they always become her friend.  She loves everyone.

I feel so lucky to be her Mom and to get to share this special day with my Clara Lucille.