January 22

On Sunday, Kristin will be 16. That is so hard to believe....here are my memories of Kristin so far:

Car crash, lots of visitors in the hospital, knowing she would be okay, yelling at bathtimes but quiet and still afterwards, spitting up...A LOT...never going to sleep, fastest crawler ever, sock in the mouth as she crawls, having 2 pacifiers, one to suck on and one to hold, jogging in place on the couch pillows, she and Steve fighting with empty 2-liters as their swords, calling Steve "Daddin", being scared of dogs, having lots of boyfriends (when she was LITTLE)....she would say...Evan, Derek and Joshua and sometime Big Judson were her boyfriends, watching Michael on Barney, pitching and spiking with her balls or balloons in the living room, always having a tissue in her hand, talking to Grandma and Papa on the video camera, saying, "Grub, Grub" instead of "Scrub Scrub" when visiting her sister in the hospital, hugs after naps...I took advantage of them since they were few and far between, crying...loudly at swim lessons, talking constantly, knowing the words to the story and saying them with me, wanting to be a "shooting star" from the get-go, being able to make Korie laugh when physical therapy days were hard, the first day of Kindergarten, Brian Mouring asking her to marry him, never going right to sleep, crying the first time she got a B, being the tallest in Upward basketball and being very good for her age, getting her hair done for Stefanie's wedding and looking so gorgous and then sitting up at the big table drinking sparkling water, getting saved and then baptised, 5th grade graduation, having dad for her bible teacher for 3 years, making the MS basketball team and winning the title, sleepovers with Regan, Hope and Roni, birthday parties, wearing braces for 5 years and all the visits to the Orthodontist, making JV team, being on the Black Widows and going to Nationals in Tennessee, being afraid of roller coasters, babysitting for Faith and Alan at Camp Open Arms, going to high school, making varsity in basketball and volleyball, going to Washington DC...just her and I, the first time she got a varsity award in a tournament, letting her go to camp for the first time, all the Presidential fitness awards she received, the first time a boy showed interest in her, being a leader in her class and teams, talking in her room about her day, letting her go to Mexico on a mission trip, how special her youth group became, boys in the picture now, making Homecoming court and now about to get her class ring and license...how did all that and more happen in this short amount of time...my goodness...her time here is almost over.

God, help her to love you more and more as the years go by, help her to stay close to family, to never forget what she has been taught through the years, to always seek Your will and to finish school ready to face the world with the person that YOU have chosen for her....and someday her daughter will turn 16 and she will know the love that a parent has for a child and how their heart can hurt but be proud at the same time. Keep her close, may she always feel Your love and know that YOU are everything she needs for life. Amen