My girl

This kid is something else man.

I can't talk about her without sounding like a braggart or one of those parents that are overly proud. But I am proud. And she is something. Sensitive to the leadings of God in her life. Good and kind. Helpful, funny, sweet, obedient and mature. Ridiculously smart and exceptionally beautiful. Much as I would like to claim responsibility, I cannot. Her awesomeness is not a result of really incredible parenting, she is just a freak of nature really. I'm not the only one who sees it either. She blows away everyone who knows her. I am told regularly by family and strangers alike how special my kid is. I'm not complaining. I'm so grateful. And blessed. And terrified.

I wonder, like all good things, if this will come to an end.

10 is a strange age. 5 years ago, she was only 5, just starting school, innocent and adorable in knee socks and pig tails. 5 years from now she will be 15 with all the wonders and perils of teenage ideas and hormones. Yikes. I remember who I was at 15 and that doesn't really give me a lot of comfort. Nor does it feel like that long ago. 10 however is the age from which both sides pull. She is at some moments right on the brink of falling headlong into adolescence, and at other times her girlhood shines through like a blinding light.

I pray that the next few years will sustain her love for God, amazing character, the closeness between us, her interest in doing well at school and being a trusted, dependable member of our household. I expect that there will be new adventures and failings and battles and some slammed doors, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm just so scared, as she sits on the edge of childhood, that the trials of becoming a young woman will change her into someone I don't recognize.

But come what may, I'll be here loving this kid fiercely and being thankful for the gift she is and for the opportunity I get to parent such a special soul.