My baby girl is 23 today.
She will be 22 all but 2 minutes of this day. Yep, she was born 2 minutes before Valentine's Day.
Hey, anyone can be born on Valentine's Day. My girl went for Friday the 13th!
So, I only get ten favorites?
I could write books about this girl. I am so in love with this kid. Have been from the first second I saw her.
She makes my heart burst!
Here we go:
10. After a very long search, we found a new favorite place this year. Mickey's Drive In. Our Dunes days always started with a trip to the A&W in Bridgman. A few years ago they sold out to Quizno's. Neh... not doing that on a Dune Day. We've been on a two-year search. This summer we discovered Mickey's. Wow! Amazing place. Nothing like sitting in the car with the tray on the window when you've done a day at the beach.
9. I love seeing the fulfillment Shellie derives from teaching and tutoring. Most of her students are down south, but she tutors a shy little girl at our house. Shell makes that girl light up! Nothing like seeing your kid live out the purpose for which God made her.
8. That voice! Every time she sings...I'm telling you, she brings me right into God's presence.
7. Sticking with the music theme, Shell gave me/us some songs we will never forget in the final leg of our journey from CJHS to our own church home! Overwhelmed, Never Once, All Things New. Now that we're in she's brought us Furious and will soon bring How Deep the Father's Love for Us and Broken Vessels. I have all of them in a playlist, playing over and over again. Thanks for keeping the playlist fresh and full of songs that keep my eyes on God and my head in the right place.
6. She's a napper. Naps are the best! I'm so glad she has an appreciation for the value of a good nap. Naps are wasted on kids. They are made for adults!
5. When I sit at my desk, I stare at a project she put together with the help of many friends for my 50th birthday. It is covered with notes and lego pieces. I read them often, and when I do, I think of her, and all the hard work she put into creating this for me. This past year I watched her spend hours on gifts for a person she did not even know...a friend of a friend. Who does that? Who puts out that kind of time and creative energy for others? True love.
4. This was the year of the building. It consumed our lives. I cannot tell you how many times this girl dropped everything to ride to the rescue of her parents. She worked tirelessly, joyfully and in a way that lifted me up and helped me to keep going.
3. The other night she wanted me to carry her to bed. I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard! It is memory that will be burned into my mind for a long time.
2. We were hunting for a theme for the opening of the new building. When I suggested the Reclaimed idea, she jumped on it. Between the song All Things New and the Fingerprint Project she put together for Christmas Eve...it still moves me to tears. She made beautiful things happen that gave all of us memories we will cherish forever.
1. How did I get so lucky? Out of all the billions of kids being born on this planet, God placed Shellie Renee in a crib at our house. My mind is flooded with memories...
dancing around the room with a baby girl to Beauty and the Beast
listening to her sing her first solo at Eisenhower and being shocked at the voice that belted out of our shy little girl
watching her lead hundreds of kids along with her friends singing at Day Camp
enjoying her roles in musicals
seeing her grow and change before my eyes into an amazing woman
Shellie, you make my life worth living. If I existed for no other purpose, knowing you was worth it all.
With you, it was love at first sight, and the infatuation has never worn off.
It never will.