9-12

There has been a lot of talk the last week about what we were all doing 10 years ago.  And 10 years ago today, we were celebrating Savannah’s first birthday.

Joy came in the morning.

This 11th birthday is tricky for me.

She’s my baby girl.

She’s Savannah.

A friend recently said there is always a child that you wonder how they got that old, that fast.  And this year, for me, it’s Savannah.

How is it that she is in her last year of elementary school?

A few weeks ago she asked me when she could start flat ironing (straightening) her hair.  Kind of caught me off guard.  When did she start caring about her hair?

Her beautiful, thick Rapunzel-ish hair.  The hair that was CARROT orange when she was a baby.  Now people stop me and ask if they can take her to the hair salon with them because they want their hair to be the exact color as hers.

And as pretty as I think Savannah is … I think it’s her heart that is most beautiful.

You see, she and I are birds of a feather on many things.  We’re forgetful, we love to have a good time, we want to do it all and we want to see it all.

Last week … the first week of homework for 5th grade, I got emails from two of her three teachers.  They began … “If you are receiving this email your child failed to turn in a homework assignment this past week”.

TRUST ME … in 9 + years of schooling for Caroline and 7 + years for Brittany, I’ve never gotten one of these emails.  And when I asked Savannah about it she said … “It was probably a mistake”.  The teachers mistake … not hers!  :)  I told her she needed to really think about it and figure out what went wrong.  She came back and said that she forgot to have something signed … and I’m hopeful it won’t happen again.

Truth be told, it probably will.

I’m enough like her to know.

Then yesterday I went to church and her Sunday School teacher from last year (she just promoted) came up to me and said … “The silver necklace and the note Savannah gave me were so precious”.

And I honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

None.

She must have noticed my blank look because she said … “you do know Savannah gave me a necklace and a letter, right?".  And I had to tell her that honestly … I did not.

Savannah, on her own initiative, had written her a letter thanking her for what she had taught her (it was a page in length and her teacher said she wanted to photo copy it so I could read it).  She wrapped the letter in some silver Mardi Gras beads … cheap, plastic beads that she treasured none the less.

And although she may forget her homework (and that is really, really important, I know) … I’m so thankful for her heart that blessed her teacher with what she had …. sweet words and a silver bead Mardi Gras necklace.

Her teacher wore those plastic beads into church and told other people what Savannah had done.  Savannah had blessed her.

There’s a part of me that wishes Savannah would have told me she wanted to give her a gift (there’s a bigger part of me that wishes I would have thought of it) … I could have upgraded the necklace … but it’s better knowing that she did it on her own.  I think it’s more meaningful and honestly, it inspires me to want to do better with blessing others.

She delights us now … just as much as she did the day she wore that pink party hat.  She is an encourager to everyone in our family …  and to others as well.

Savannah Grace … you bring us great joy.

Happy 11th Birthday baby girl!