Wow. I get to celebrate two teenage birthdays in just over a month.
Vanessa, this is the second birthday that I have been able to spend with you. What an amazing journey God and life has led us through in these past two years.
Unlike your sisters, I’ve known you since Kindergarten when the beauty you had in your heart was extended to my son. You became his friend, when he was struggling to find one. You treated him with respect, you never turned your back on him and even then I loved you for who you were.
It is funny to look back at two years ago and think that somehow God had a hand in all of this all along. What a lost soul you were and it doesn’t seem like that long ago. The turmoil that you had faced in your young life was so much more than a child should have to bare. I was determined to make things work for all of us, and I think I did well. I love you more than I ever knew possible, and while I will never take the place of your mother, I know now that I am in your heart in a special place.
I cannot believe I am looking at a teenager today. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. God has worked in your heart in amazing ways in the past year and it shows. You radiate His love. The compassion that I have been seeing you show, the concern, the affection that is finally displayed for my two kids is noted. I haven’t missed a thing. Thank you.
Happy 13th Birthday to my favorite teenage girl! I love you.
