Two whole hands, that's what you are. Two whole hands of sweetness, sarcasm, and smarts. And it's my honor and privilege to present your Two-Handed Top Ten Lists.
Top Ten Things You Love:
- Drawing
- Singing, especially on stage
- Knowing the bathroom situation of any place we go to (you want to know if there will be porta-potties, regular bathrooms, single-occupancy, etc and you want to make sure everyone has gone to the bathroom before we go anywhere.)
- Charlie
- Cuddling with your daddy
- Girl time with your momma (you particularly love wandering around the American Girl store at the mall - which is actually loads of fun because you never ask for anything in that store. You've never been a 'doll kid'; you like to look at them in the store, but you're happy to leave them in the store.)
- Making cards for people
- The Holderness Family, Art for Kids Hub, and Super Carlin Brothers YouTube channels
- Church, specifically your Sunday School class
- Reading
Top Ten Things You Don't Love:
- When you're forced out of your routine (which, admittedly, is something that Daddy and I do on purpose to stretch your 'roll with it' muscle. It definitely needs a bit of stretching ...)
- When Charlie knows something you don't know, or figures something out before you do. (It's particularly funny when I'm drilling you on math problems and he calls out random numbers just to mess with you - and sometimes, he happens to call out the right number. Which just tickles him to no end and infuriates you to your very core. Charlie's right; it's very funny.)
- Cumin and beans (which is super unfortunate because your parents love tacos almost as much as we love you)
- Humidity
- Reading comprehension ("You mean I have to look through this book to find the answer??????????? I can't do that!!!!!!!!! It'll take too long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
- Cleaning the bathroom (I am fully aware of this fact, but you still feel the need to remind me every single time you're asked to do it)
- That you're not perfect (One of my many prayers is that you would loosen the grip you have on this idea of perfection that you feel you have to meet. Daddy and I know you'll never be perfect and we know that it's a useless and fruitless quest to be perfect, but you hate not being amazing at everything.)
- Dry skin in the winter
- Waiting in lines
- Chaos. (Hectic/loud/chaotic environments make you feel panicky.)
Top Ten Things You're Good At:
- Math (I've always known you were good at math, but this is the first year where you've realized that for yourself. Thanks, Math Mammoth!)
- Handwriting
- Drawing cartoon characters
- Singing
- Sarcasm (It's definitely a life-long process to learn when and how to use sarcasm to its fullest potential to where it's funny but never hurtful)
- Teasing Daddy about you being halfway to (insert twice of whatever age you currently are). (Daddy hated that you were halfway to 18. I'm assuming he'll be even less thrilled with you now being halfway to 20).
- Trying new foods (You definitely don't like everything you try, but I love that you're always willing to try)
- Keeping your room clean
- Following the rules (It truly confuses you when people don't follow the rules)
- Rollerblading, climbing rock walls, and doing handstands
Top Ten Things You're Not Good At:
- Having a good poker face. (Not that we play poker ... yet. But when we play spades and you end up with a great hand, you try your hardest to look normal, but your mouth purses up and your eyes open wide.)
- Receiving constructive criticism (It's never fun to hear that you've done something wrong or that there's a better way to do what you've done, but it's important to be humble and recognize that you don't know everything)
- Driving a car (if any police officers are reading this, I'M JUST KIDDING .... Of course I'm kidding ... you're a great driver)
- Doing any activity (school work, reading, drawing, sitting in the car) without singing or humming
- Being an adult (this, of course, doesn't stop you from trying to be a momma to Charlie ... it might surprise you, but he only needs one momma, one daddy, and one sister)
- Juggling fire batons
- Simply listening (and not participating) when an adult conversation is happening
- Lying (praise Jesus!)
- A triple lutz
- Remaining calm when you hear that someone has to go to the bathroom without there being a bathroom in the immediate vicinity. (It makes you so nervous to think that someone might have an accident. I keep trying to tell you that an accident is pretty low on the list of Worst Things in the World, but that doesn't seem to help.)
How is it possible that a decade has passed so quickly? Those first six months of your life and the entire year of you being two definitely seemed to have lasted a lifetime-and-a-half (Will she ever stop throwing up on me?? Will she ever stop crying?? Will she ever stop pounding on the door and kicking the walls when she's mad??), but the other eight-and-a-half years have practically flown by in a blink. Watching you grow, learn, fall, learn some more, fall some more, and then learn some more has been a joy.
You're remarkably capable, ridiculously thoughtful, and incredible talented. You love performing in musicals and you love the quiet solitude of reading in your room. You love being silly and ridiculous, but you can also carry on an intelligent conversation with an adult. You're encouraging and sympathetic, kind and eager. You're tough and hard-working, cautious and curious. You're beautiful and strong, sensitive and mischievous. You're your daddy's baby doll and your momma's peach. You are our Natty-J.
As a girl in 2018, you're bombarded with slogans like GIRLS RUN THE WORLD and SORRY BOYS, GIRLS RULE and THE FUTURE IS FEMALE. To me, these slogans scream that being a girl automatically makes you better than a boy. That boys are incapable. That you must loudly proclaim your worth to the world at all times or else your worth is zero. Being female is wonderful and unique. It should not a burden nor should it be of utmost importance.
Being female is not better or worse than being male; it's not a competition. God made us to be different - to like different things, to have different skills, to have different ideas. And that's wonderfully A-OK.
Boys are not incapable. Sure, there are lots of boys and men who make really terrible decisions. That's not a gender problem; that's a sin problem.
Likewise, girls are not the end-all-be-all. There are lots of girls and women who make really terrible decisions. Again, it has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with sin.
Your worth does not need to be proclaimed on a glittery shirt. Your worth is not determined by your gender, your looks, your talents, or your likes or dislikes. Your worth is defined by the Creator of the word 'worth'. Your worth is defined by the One who created you. Your worth is defined solely by what He did on the cross. If you live like your worth is based on anything else, your worth will never feel secure. Because every single one of those anything elses can and will change - your talents can change over the years, your likes and dislikes aren't written in stone, your physical appearance will morph as you get older. On a day when your hair looks amazing, you blaze through school without any trouble, and you talents seem endless, you'll probably feel something like, Man! I am amazing. Look at how great I'm doing!! I'm a force to be reckoned with! But on those days when you can't find a thing to wear, you struggle with math concepts that you understood last week, and you can't seem to get along with anybody, you'll probably feel, Man! I'm a disaster. I can't do anything right. I'll never be good enough.
But if you base your worth on Someone unchanging, Someone eternal, Someone who loves unconditionally, you can face the great days with humility and the not-so-great days with grace. You understand that while He's the giver of every talent you have, His love for you isn't based on possessing that talent. His love for you is based on your position as His child. You understand that while He's responsible for the brain in your head, He's not demanding you be perfect at anything. He knows you'll never be perfect; He just wants you to follow Him. And following Him will look like amazing days as well as not-so-amazing days.
So keep following Him, my darling. Follow Him on the good days and follow Him on the bad days. He's faithful and steadfast and He's crazy about you. You are His masterpiece.
Your daddy and I are quite fond of you as well.
Hugs and smooches,
Mommy and Daddy
