My daughter Poppy is *obsessed* with her mother. She wants to be with her ALWAYS. We’re talking joined at the hip. There are times, I admit, when it’s likely a lot for my sweet wife, Maggie; but she is always gracious and patient and loving. But I mean it’s like Maggie is a tree and Poppy is trying to climb her. As husband and father to these two wonderful women, it’s the sweetest thing to watch – mother and daughter bonding (even when said bonding is foisted upon the mother by the daughter). And truthfully, in most moments we have the clarity to say, “There will come a day when we’re going to wish we still had our children clinging to us.”
For me as an observer, it’s really quite precious to behold:
Poppy wants to do everything like Maggie.
She wants to wear the same clothes.
She wants to wear the same shoes (“Heel tops” – which are actually “high heels”)
She wants to eat the same food, drink the same drinks.
She wants to paint her nails the same color.
She wants to sit in her desk chair.
She wants to sleep in her (OUR!) bed.
Poppy wants to do WHATEVER it is that Maggie is doing.
And most beautifully: Poppy wants Maggie’s job at Christ’s Church.
“Mom-mom, when I grow up, I want to do what you do.”
Sure, this is in part because if Maggie is doing it, whatever “it” is, Poppy wants in on it. But more importantly, Poppy wants to be a minister like her mother because Maggie is helping her fall in love with the Bride of Christ, intentionally telling her the stories of our faith, and teaching her to love compassionately.
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I’ve loved the time we’re spending at church right now studying 2 Timothy, which Paul writes to Timothy at Ephesus as Paul is nearing the end of his life. He reminisces quite a bit in these four chapters, including at the outset as he recalls Timothy’s own faith journey:
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”
2 Timothy 1.5
Wow! What a neat thing…to see this generational passing on of the faith from Lois to Eunice to Timothy.
In my own life, if a “Paul” were writing the same letter to me, he would say, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Alice and your mother Cindy and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”
Not that other members of my family haven’t been a critical part of the lineage of faith that has been passed down to me, such as my dad or grandpa, but I can very much align with Timothy in that these two women in my life are titans of the faith, and have lovingly passed that faith on to me.
My grandma Alice grew up as part of a missionary family in Mozambique. As an adult back in the States, she and my grandpa served in ministry in locations such as Odon, IN; Morrow, GA; and McDonough, GA. Her fierce love of the church, the word of God, and the unreached peoples of the world were passed on to my mom.
My mom, along with my dad, moved to the small village of Selston, England to be missionaries for seven years in the 1980s. After returning to the States, my mom has faithfully served the kingdom in various capacities. She has been a beacon for me, helping light the way on my own faith journey.
As Paul assumed of Timothy from what his grandmother and mother passed along, that same ‘sincere faith’ now dwells in me thanks to these two wonderful women in my life.
Back to Poppy:
As Timothy received his faith from Lois and Eunice, and I from Alice and Cindy, I now have the privilege of watching the front end of another generational passing on of the faith in my own household.
Maggie, my wife, is a faithful minister of the gospel, serving and loving the church with authentic compassion.
Poppy, my daughter, is picking up on all of it and she is ALL IN. There is Christlike compassion in that little five-year-old that this 40-year-old man is still trying to figure out. She loves the church fiercely. She wants to soak up as many Bible stories as she can and read them again and again and again.
And you know what I can’t wait for?
With tears in my eyes as I type, I cannot wait for the day when Poppy grows up, and maybe has a son of her own, and when a “Paul” might one day write to my grandson, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Maggie and your mother Poppy and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”
Isaac Schade
Isaac Schade is a member of our Christ’s Church family, currently serving on staff at our Impact partner, Ozark Christian College. He is also married to Maggie Schade, who serves as our Community Impact Minister here at Christ’s Church.
Isaac is pictured here with his wife, Maggie, and children, Paxton and Poppy.
