Growing Up
By my teenage daughter, Shiloh Neal

When you’re a child, life is so carefree,
Your biggest worry is which shirt to wear
But suddenly, you look back and realize
Something happened somewhere
And now you’re not who you were a year ago.  
And things have changed, your mind has shifted
Your experience has grown, yet you’re still so unsure.
Then you realize what’s happened, you finally see,
You’re growing up; adulthood is no longer a distant dream.
But though everything is different,
At the same time nothing has changed.  
You still worry about which shirt to wear,
Though not for your first sleepover, but for your first date.  
And you wish you could go back, back to those carefree days,
When Daddy carried you, fast asleep, up the stairs,
But deep down you know that you were meant to be here,
Here in this place where you are,
And you smile at the future, frightening though it may be, 
Because you know you’ll be ready when God wants you to be