August 1st 2013
Today is our Little Miss M’s 5th birthday, a day she has been looking forward to and counting down for over a month, and I’m happy to say that I’m pretty sure all of her expectations and hopes for this day were met! The dear child even managed to genuinely adore the cake I made her, bless her soul. Ahaha oh my my my, what began as an idea to make her a six-layer-rainbow-colored cake ended up in an avalanche of colors and frosting and edible glitter. I think the most accurate description it recieved was that of a rainbow volcano. But she loved it. = )
Birthdays are one of my most favorite things: I see them as a day dedicated to really celebrate and appreciate and delight in the lives of the people we love. And come on, when else do you get the opportunity to buy a piñata?!
A few weeks ago I walked into a second-hand clothing store and encountered what I instantly recognized as the perfect birthday present for our girly-girl Miss M: a fluffy, glittery, yellow & gold Princess Belle dress in just her size. Ohhh yes, I knew she was going to loooooove it.
As I walked down the city street with my new Beauty-&-The-Beast purchase in hand I thought back to many moons ago when I was somewhere right around Miss M’s size, and I myself had my very own sparkly gold Princess Belle dress. I’m sure I played dress-up with it all the time but the only memory I actually have of wearing that dress was on halloween at my church. I remember swishing around in that full skirt, surrounded by (tall!) people who knew and loved me, feeling beautiful, feeling special, feeling like a princess.
So tonight, as I passed out pieces of rainbow/volcano cake, M opened up her presents and I took delight in watching her reactions to each one, especially to the princess crown from Bibi, the sparkly black heels from Evie, and of course her Princess Belle dress. After she had finished opening everything up I took her down the hall to change into her new treasures, and then I watched as she walked carefully down the hall in her clicky new heels and her swishy new dress, beaming as she re-entered her party.
I don’t ever want to forget this night.. I don’t ever want to forget how her eight-year-old brother gasped and said soft & sweet: ”She’s so beautiful!” or how the (tall!) people who know and love her ooooo-ed and awwww-ed over this little princess, but I especially don’t want to forget what was radiating from our little girl. M was radiant, she was glowing, and it wasn’t just because she felt beautiful, it was because she felt loved. She felt celebrated and appreciated and delighted-in. She felt special, she felt important, she felt valuable. And she is.
I may or may not have started crying a little bit.. because the thing is, this is a little girl who was not wanted by her mother, this is a little girl whose five years began by being rejected, neglected, and abandoned. But M’s story didn’t end there, although it easily could have. M has a rescuer, and His name is Abba. God plucked this little girl out of darkness and placed her into the midst of people who love and delight-in her. We’re not a typical family, but we are the people God has brought together (from 4 different countries!) to be a family. And because of this.. M can dance around, all radiant and sparkly-like, and know that she is deeply and irrevocably and truly loved.
birthday princess & cake thief = )
so this is Love... 