It's birthday time again at It's a Lacy Life! Yep, we celebrated our sweet Amish Girl turning 13 about 2 weeks ago! It hardly seems possible that she is 13 years old...a teenager! Let alone the fact that I now have TWO teen aged children in my house! Lord, tell me...where does the time go??? Sigh... It is with great humility and admiration for the things of God that we celebrate this child whom has recently turned 13 years old! WOW! I still can't wrap my mind around that fact! Long ago, when this child was growing up and getting older, I told her, with that hesitation that a mom has about her children getting older, that it's okay for her to grow up, but to just stay sweet! Well, she reminds me of that often when she makes the comment; "Mom, remember when you said it's okay to grow up, just make sure you stay sweet", and asks the question; "Am I still sweet?" And I always reply a confident "Yes, daughter, I remember, and yes, you are still my sweet girl!" :)
This child is such a blessing in my life. Of course, all of my/our children bless us, "sharpen" us, and challenge us in this way or that way, and all of my children are a blessing to me, and I have no favorite child, as I love them all with all of my heart, but in different ways for the different things they bring into our family. But this relationship is a little different, and I will tell you why.
This child has such a sweet spirit, a positive outlook/attitude, and a heart of love, joy, and compassion. Don't get me wrong, it's not all sunshine and roses, she doesn't walk around happy and smiley and joyful ALL the time (but most of the time), and we do have our "moments" as mother and daughter, but I'm talking about an overall disposition, here. Some may call it innocence and naivete, and I'm sure there is some of that in her, too, but there is just a sweetness that could only have come from the heart of God that this child has, it's not one with a selfish ambition or a manipulative motivation. She's sweet because that's just simply the way God made her (and I tend to think it's what I needed). :)
She has the kind of sweetness about her that I NEVER thought I would WANT nor have a NEED for in my life before I became a Christian. Truth be told, I was always a little (okay, maybe a lot) "rough around the edges" for the years of my life BC (Before Christ), and I still can be at times. I think that the world, life, and circumstances makes us jaded when we go through things in our lives, and therefore molds us and shapes us in many ways, some positive and some negative. There is a "hardness", a callus, if you will, as a sort of defense mechanism, as a result of going through the things that happens to us in our lives. In my own personal experience, I felt I had to be "strong" or "tough" so I wouldn't get hurt by people and the world. Not only did I not see the NEED for being sweet, but I didn't see the point in it, really. But, in the interest of not making this post about me, that is all I will say about myself. I only mention it as a sort of comparison/contrast to myself, as an opposite, if you will, to the way this particular child is.
But God has a sense of humor, let me tell you, and He loves to challenge his children and change us and mold us into how HE wants us to be. Frankly, I believe that is why God gives us our children, with all of their unique personalities and temperaments, because if we let HIM and if we let them, they will help us to SEE HIM through them! :) This child has helped me to see what a "sweet" spirit from the heart of God is all about, how it affects and changes the people around them, and how valuable these people are to God and our world. This child has a heart to serve and be a servant, and has blessed me in so many ways. I don't want to go on and on and gush over her, but I do want to express my appreciation to God for her, and mention that she is always there to lift me up when I am down, or rub a hurting child's back when they are hurt, or give you hugs and smiles when you are going through a really tough time, and on and on.
Okay, now that I have everyone feeling all sentimental (just kidding), I will share some fun pictures, and talk about what we did for her birthday celebration! The day started off with special breakfast treats and blueberry pancakes, per her request, with the Happy Birthday song and a candle, of course. Okay, so she wasn't all by herself, as it may look in this picture, she was just the first one to eat, and we all gathered around her on the other side of the table to sing to her. :)
Then, our whole family took her to lunch, which seems to have become the tradition for the 13th birthday (a restaurant of HER choosing, of course, a family favorite), along with some of her grandparents (my mom, my dad, and my step-mom) and my aunt (my moms sister). We promised her (cut out a picture to put it into her card) a laptop for her birthday gift, which we had to order, and should be here on Tuesday. Here are some pictures at the restaurant and of her opening her gifts and cards. I didn't get a picture of her food, but she had a salad, cheese ravioli with garlic bread, and Paninos fries, which are awesome! But, I did manage to get a picture of her delicious "Mud Pie", which is fabulous! :)
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Think she's excited about her laptop?  Another thing we did on her actual birthday, was to go shopping, as per her request, of course. We went to the Goodwill, Target, and the Half-Priced Book store. I found some great finds, that I will have to share another time, this IS a birthday post, after all. :)  The most exciting thing we did (according to her) was that she REALLY wanted to got to the concert of a Christian artist by the name of Jamie Grace. It was scheduled for just 2 days before her birthday, and it was called "Girls Night Out", so we decided to go, and invite some girlfriends along, and make it a mother/daughter night out. Not all of her friends we invited were able to make it, but we had a BLAST with the ones that were able to come, and we even went out for desert afterwards and celebrated a little more. Thank you ladies SO much for coming out, and for making the day SO special, and thanks for the memories...you know who you are! :)       What a great time we had celebrating this special member of our family. Thank you to all of you who went out of your way to celebrate with us, and thank God for this precious member of our family! Much love from your mommy (and family) to you...Sugar Plum/Amish Girl! :) Hoping you are enjoying your family, too, It's a Lacy Life |
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