Bethany is 14 today.  It’s getting real, this growing up thing.  More and more, the traces of my spunky, flighty (at times irresponsible and stubborn) little girl are fading.  She’s still the same girl at heart, but more articulate, less willful, more willing to do the work of being responsible.  She is growing in grace and beauty every day (in more ways than one), which makes me relieved and mortified all at once, I find myself praying more fervently these days that she will have wisdom, and that she will know how to guard her heart, and that she won’t be swept off her feet by the first guy that looks her way.  She has a good head on her shoulders, and a healthy sense of propriety, as well as a recognition of her God-given worth, so I do breathe easier knowing these things.

But while there are many changes, some things have only become clearer.  She LOVES animals.  She is fairly brilliant at math.  She is not a naturally good speller.  She’s great at understanding mechanics.  She is determined.  She loves shiny and sparkly and fluffy anything.  She makes chocolates and she dances and she loves music.

I love the maturing and refining that is happening in my oldest girl, but I am so thankful, too, that she is still so much who she has always been.  I love my Bethany and all her wonderful uniqueness.  She is a gift and joy to my heart.