A letter to my daughter on her sixth birthday

Oh my sweet and precious Kate,

How I love you! And keep loving you more and more each day. This, I never would have thought possible as we drove you home from the hospital. I sat in the back seat to stare at you and make sure that your head didn't flop over too much.

You are an intense force of nature. You love doing and acting out the pretend plays going on in your head. You do not stop. Ever. You are constantly in motion even as you talk to grandparents on the phone. Even when we're supposed to be eating dinner or praying. You always have a reason to get up and move.

You love Jesus. You speak of Him often. You sing of Him even more. You pray multiple times a day to have a great day or to have fun or when you see an ambulance that the people would be safe. You pray for loose dogs running on the street, and then you proclaim with much certainty that they are now running home. I am not sure if Jesus has told you this or if you are wishing it were so.

You love princesses. Anything that twirls, is sparkly or is covered in glitter is instantly attractive to you. You play in the backyard in your princess dresses. They smell like grass and dirt and Bela when you come in. You are my tomboy princess. You are currently training for a race at your school while wearing sparkly glitter shoes with red pom poms on top.

You love sweets. Peanut butter is your only source of protein. But you love it and anything frosted, sugar-coated or covered in sprinkles. It's like you know immediately that anything sweet must be good.

You love perfection. You want everything to be perfect as it is lined out in your head. When we don't play how you want or do what you want or the letters you are writing are not exactly as they are in your printed book, you become upset. And you keep at it and at it and at it. You do not quit. Even when you are miserable, you plow through the project until it is just as you envisioned. You want things the way you want them and you want them that way now.

You wear me out, but I love you anyway. Probably because I see myself in you. Not just in the way we resemble each other, but in our attitudes and energy in which we thrust ourselves toward life. I wish that I could spare you the heart ache and regrets that I have inflicted upon my very own self because of my quirks.

But God made you with this unique personality to serve His unique and perfect purpose. And I cannot think of anyone better suited for His work than my irresistible, irrepressible, amazingly wonderful Kate.

I love you forever and ever and always. All the way around the world and back.

Love,
Mommy