Birthday Girl

Birthday season is upon us again.  We have 4 birthdays in the next few months.  Then we take a short break before we celebrate the rest.

Little N just turned 7. God has truly done an amazing work in her life.  She joined our family a little more than two years ago; a troubled little girl.  Her grief was overwhelming.  Her behaviors were witness of  things in her life that she didn't know how to process.

Ever so slowly, almost imperceptibly, she began to heal.  Many times it seemed as though we were going backwards.   As she healed, she would trust us with a small piece of her heart.  Then she would wrestle with fear and feelings of loyalty to others.  She would get scared and take back that fragile piece of heart.  It was a sad little dance that would leave us all, at times joyful, and other times full of sorrow and confusion.

These past few months we have seen tremendous growth in our little girl.  She has been dealing with the lingering grief.  She has entrusted more and more of her heart to us and I've not seen those telltale signs that fear is about to overtake her and insist she repossess her love.  We are so proud of N!

Each of our children has a life song, hand picked by their dad.  This song has special meaning for the child.  N's song is Beautiful by MercyMe.  It could have been written for her.  I pray that she's learning to see how much she is treasured.  Here are some of the lyrics:

Days will come when you don't have the strength
When all you hear is you're not worth anything
Wondering if you ever could be loved
And if they truly saw your heart
They'd see too much

You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His
You're beautiful

and Praying that you have the heart to fight
Cuz you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you've held inside so long
and they are nothing in the shadow of the cross