Dear Emma
Happy 6th Birthday! What a treasure you are to our family and to all who know you. I am so incredibly grateful that God chose me to be your Mom and I am so proud of you and how you are growing to be a young lady that honors the Lord. This year was HUGE for you! On September 28 you prayed to receive Christ as your Savior…the best decision you will ever make in your entire life. The course of eternity has forever been changed for you because you decided to exchange your sin for the righteousness of God. No matter what happens the rest of your life, you are hidden with Christ and covered by His grace. What an amazing choice to make as a 5 year old. I’ll never forget when Daddy and I got to pray with you that Sunday afternoon…what a treasure!
This year was also HUGE for you because you became a big sister when we officially welcomed Eli into our family back in May. You have been such a huge prayer warrior these past few years as we have been in the adoption process for your brother. I will never forget when we walked into the orphanage in Ethiopia and you met your little brother for the first time. It was love at first sight! We have been home around 6 months now and you love him even more now than you did then…which is hard to believe! You are a loving and kind big sister and you go out of your way to read Eli stories and to play with him and hug and kiss him. My prayer is that the two of you are always close as you are growing up because I know what a blast it was to grow up with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Katie and I want that for you and Eli too!
You are almost halfway through with Kindergarten at NCCS and Mrs. Haxton is your teacher. Your best friends are Ella Wallace, Jack Bitner, Lauren Lewis, Anhalise Hendrix, and Liam Loft. You told me in the car yesterday that your favorite two things at school right now are art and music and I can’t wait to see where that leads. You love learning and you have had a great time learning how to read these past several months. Your spelling and writing have grown by leaps and bounds…you even wrote a “Happygram” in the car today for Eli to let me know how special you think your brother is. You also love sports and anything creative. The majority of your time these days is spent at home, at school (NCCS), at church (Cedarcrest), or at Moe’s (your favorite restaurant).
Emma, you also learned how to ride a two wheel bike this year and you didn’t use your floaties at all this summer…you swim like a fish! You have gotten so much more confident on the tube in the lake and you love your weekly piano lessons. You also love to text family and friends using your iPod. Many of your evenings are spent fixing your hair or styling our hair…and you are really good at it!
Some of my favorite memories from this past year are riding to and from school with you each day. I love hearing what you are thinking about and wondering about. Your favorite Bible verse is still Philippians 4:19 “My God shall supply all your needs.” You are so thoughtful of others and just the thought of you brings a huge smile to my face. God has amazing plans for your life Emma Kathryn Strange…and the fun is just beginning! Happy 6th birthday my precious daughter!
All my love,
Mommy