Faith

Today my sweet girl turns 8.  EIGHT!  I can not believe it.  I know, I know, I say that every year, every child, but my, it is always true.  The time is slipping away, days tumbling by like grains of sand in an hour glass.  You do not notice one or two at a time, even a weeks worth, or at times a month can slip by.  Then you look around and the kids are bigger, stronger, smarter.  You look older, more gray hair, even maybe a wrinkle or two.  And you wonder where it all went, all your missing time.  I will give you a run down of the past eight Faith years.

Faith was born on the last night of our VBS.  It was entitled Faith Mountain.  Not the reason I choose the name Faith, but the kids at VBS were tickled!  I sat there teaching the lesson, pausing for each contraction, then moving on. As the kids went to the closing, I headed to the hospital.  If we would have brought the car seat with us she would have made it to the closing program on Sunday morning!  That Saturday (she was born really early Saturday morning) we missed a family reunion.  For the next few years her birthday always fell on both VBS and the reunion time.

As Faith got bigger there were two things everyone would comment on more than anything else.  Oh, there was always the comments about how beautiful she looked.  But then she would smile.  Oh, that smile!  It would melt your heart, turn the worst day around.  It was the most infectious smile I have ever seen.  And she was always happy.  So very happy.  I was afraid that the smile would be too different when she got teeth, but she has this adorable gap that made it even better!  She also had the cutest lisp for the longest time.  Sometimes there is just a hint of it when she talks fast or is excited, which is quite often.

The other thing developed as she got even older.  The sunniest disposition that you have ever seen.  She never lacked joy.  And it showed.  Sure she could, and would, cry and pout, but she more often than not looked on the world with rose colored glasses.  There seemed to be a hint of magic everywhere she went.  Every thing was a game.  Delightful and ready to be explored, enjoyed, shared.  She was always a pixie princess at play.  I felt certain sometimes that if I looked closely at her ears they would be pointy.

She has quite an affinity for nature.  Most children go through life chasing lighten bugs and butterflies.  The come right to Faith and land on her.  She has caught birds and ducks.  They did not even fly away when she approached and seemed to be ready to get a Faith cuddle.  She will gently hold nature in her hands, cherishing it, and then let it go.  She will collect bits of sticks, rocks, whatever and set up a museum in the yard.  Free admission, because all nature is free to be enjoyed.

Robots are the new thing.  Wall-E, R2-D2, C3PO, and droids, and many she makes up herself.  She draws elaborate plans to build them when she is older.  Or constructs them from paper, legos, blocks, or any material she can get her hands on.  She names them, gives them all a personality.

Her art skills are incredible.  I know she did not get that from me.  She has always drawn very well, and the detail in her pictures is amazing.  She goes through stages, like all houses, or robots, or sea life, or a favorite movie.  She will be doing something else, and her hands start to fidget and soon she is running off to find paper.  It is as if the artistry is spilling out and she can not help herself!  I have even seen her do math in on hand and draw with the other.

The years have numbered eight, but the joy, the love of life, the exuberance she brings to everyday are eternal.  She is the sunshine in our lives.  And were are so very glad for her.

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl!!