Milestones

It is April.  And, as promised, I'm back.  I'm going to ease my way back in, as I've got a lot of catching up to do with so many of you, and I still have a couple of weeks left before the next big shift in our life takes place.  Enjoying these last few weeks is still top on my list.

So where to jump back in?  How about with a little birthday celebration!  

Yesterday our oldest daughter turned thirteen.
I can't help but pause and think of the various responses you all might have.  I'm sure there is a response from both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between!  I can remember a couple of years ago people started talking about how she was "almost a teenager."  I don't like the term tween and I almost equally loathe the that of teenager.  I've come to be okay with the term, but to me it just sounds so negative.  Richard and I  we were simply excited yesterday to celebrate her 13th birthday.  For us, she didn't wake up a teenager, but 13, and my prediction is that she is going to thrive at this milestone in her life as much as she has in every other one.  She is our first born, our steadfast daughter.  Strong, kind, gentle and smart.  I'm sure there will be new challenges now that she is "a teenager."  But there are new challenges at every stage, not just this one.  Personally, until yesterday, I wasn't ready for her to be 13.  But by the end of the day, it just seemed to be so fitting.  It is such a joy ... such a blessing to have her in my life. What an honor to be her mother.  What a gift to train her up and to witness her "become."  

It was a super day.  Hanson Ellis requested a day just hanging out with me.  Pretty special!  I sort of felt like it was my birthday:).  We drove to the mall of her choice and talked and laughed and talked and laughed some more.  She got a phone.  I know, I know, so cliche.  But honestly, it was a must.  We don't have a land line and with her staying home alone more with the others and spending more time at dance without us waiting in the lobby and babysitting jobs just around the bend ... well, as I put it when I handed her the phone, "You sort of lucked out." :)

I'll never forget yesterday.  It was simple, yet as full as it could be.  A celebration of life.  A gift of a moment.

Another milestone in our family.
God is oh, so good.
To Him be the glory!