14 Going On 17

Happy birthday, Mary-Michael! Oh how you’ve grown into this beautiful young woman with spirit and spunk! Your love for fashion, your endless friends from so many circles and your tenacious leadership of your siblings makes you a force to be reckoned with (in a good way…most days).

You are a smart young lady who has taken on my love for reading and studies and most definitely inherited your daddy’s quick wit and sense of humor. I personally think this is a great combination. Every year I am more certain we will be great friends when you’re an adult. You are so fun to be with. You seem to never be lacking in confidence, and I am so thankful for this as middle school years can be hard on teenage girls. I pray the truths we’ve taught you about being made in God’s image and loving others well will continue to provide you with a deep and firm foundation.

You are our little fashionista regularly sharing your opinion when asked and even when not. Frazier, Leila and I frequently come to you for advice on our attire. Now that we are the same size you regularly raid my closet, and for the most part I’m flattered that your 40-year old mother has clothes your 14-year old self would want to wear. 

You continue to be crafty and creative. You have beautiful hand-lettering that results in lovely homemade cards. You took on making personalized name decals for each of Benaiah’s classmates for their Valentine’s Day treat, which was a hit. I can spot your class work from a hundred feet away because it’s covered in color from highlighters and a variety of pens. I have a feeling your entrepreneurial spirit will lead you to a side hustle in this realm at some point.

This year you shined in volleyball, joined the Varsity Cheer team and in the off-season are regularly working out in preparation for volleyball, which is definitely your favorite activity. You’re about to wrap up your 2nd year with That Dance Thing (TDT) where you’ve made so many friends and learned the art of ballroom dancing. Church is your home away from home, and you took initiative to volunteer to serve with our kids church this year. You’ve also done a fantastic job on the Social Media Team (https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5vzx_ix0lK/?igsh=MThrNGgxM2ZxejB3ZA==). You thrive when we’re with RVA Hope ministering in the inner city, and you know the influence you have on the young girls there. I love watching you connect, play and care with such ease.

The hard truth of only having you in the home for your high school years is hard to swallow, but for ages parents have done it and children have thrived. I have no doubt when the time comes, you’ll be ready. We love you, Mary-Michael, and we’re so happy you are ours.

Love,

Momma and Daddy

Happy 6th Birthday, Benaiah!

Our Dearest Benaiah,

Oh, you are such a fun, joyful and spirited young man, and we love the way you keep all of us young and noticing the little things. You have thrived in kindergarten both academically and socially. I've been told by your teacher and other parents that you are friends with everyone, kind to everyone (even the girls) and are always smiling. Your principal hugs you every single morning when we drop you off, and shares with me secretly that you are one of her favorites. 

Almost every morning you are the first child to wake up, and the first thing you do is look for Daddy. He is still YOUR favorite. You immediately get in his chair with him and snuggle under the blanket while he reads his Bible and enjoys his morning coffee. We know the days of you fitting in this spot are numbered, so despite the discomfort, he welcomes you every time. 

You love to read, play with LEGOS (Frazier is a fantastic teacher), ride you dirt bike and scooter and race matchbox cars. Your favorite show is Spidey & Friends, and you cannot understand why you have to go to bed before your (much older) siblings. You are excited to play baseball this year, and Daddy is happy to serve as an Assistant Coach for the Diamondbacks with you. 

For career day this year you dressed in a Soul Farms shirt and hat with jeans and boots and declared you were going to be a construction worker like Daddy. You love to be with Daddy in any machine he is working in, and pretty much you'll do anything if Daddy is doing it. 

Some of your favorite foods are cheese, any kind of fruit (especially raspberries), cheez-its, pizza and rice. Your favorite books are anything by Dr. Seuss (especially Wacky Wednesday), books about super heroes and pretty much anything anyone will read to you. It's so fun hearing you read some of the words yourself as you've learned so much this year in kindergarten. You love to practice your sight words every day and complete your "homework". 

We are currently in a "phase" of you trying to exert your independence and be the mightiest even though you're the tiniest. You are loud when you don't get your way, and we are working on those big feelings you keep having. I'm thankful this really only occurs at home, and you're a gem elsewhere. You keep us on our toes!

You are a joy, young man, and we love you to pieces!

Momma

Our African Queen is 19!

Dear Leila, 

Happy birthday!! When I think of you and this past year, several words come to mind: perseverance, growth, setbacks, and courage. When I asked you last night during our quiet New Year's Eve celebration in Charleston if this year turned out how you hoped, you said no. You are not quite where you hoped to be, we had some hard moments together, and you have not yet attained your learner's permit. Understandably, that has felt so hard because at your age and stage it is a huge milestone. We can see that in 5 years it won't matter what age you received it, but your mind struggles to think like that right now. We have all grown through some hard moments this year, and I pray and believe we are all the better for it.

Despite some hardship you continue to persevere in your studying, in your pursuit of talking with friends at school who don't have a relationship with Jesus and your willingness to try new things. I see how much you’ve grown in doing hard things. I see your courage to do something new as you stepped into JROTC this year and tried out (and made!!) the worship team for youth group. These are pivotal experiences that are forming you and growing you into a woman of courage, discipline and faith.

At your parent/teacher conferences this fall, every single teacher spoke of your kindness, respect and willingness to advocate for yourself. Several spoke of times you’d stood up for your faith and been respected by your classmates. You have made great choices in friends who are spurring you on to be your best. I’m so thankful for your high values and God-honoring stance, especially in the culture and generation you are a part of.

You continue to love rice and all things spicy! This year we discovered you cannot have pork or beef likely due to Alpha-gal Syndrome (from a tick bite). We’re all eating a lot more turkey and chicken! 

Your favorite kind of day is still one that allows you to sleep late, listen to music in the warm sunshine and watch movies. Lucky for you, we regularly do only one of those - sunshine! Sorry dear. We hope you will be the better for it and learn to see the beauty in mornings and being active.

Leila, we are filled with hope for your future, and we love you. We see great potential in you, and we believe God is going to use you to bring others hope because of the story He is writing through your life.

Happy 19th birthday, our African Queen!

Love,

Momma

Happy 12th Birthday, Frazier!

Dear Frazier,

First Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” Frazier, God has given you an incredible gift of encouraging others. You have a beautiful way of connecting with those who are younger than you and older than you, and I see you do that so successfully because you see the good in others, and you aren't afraid to verbalize it. 

You are fun to be around, always up for a prank and a true lover of the outdoors. Just a few weeks ago, you and your best buddy, Liam, shot, skinned, roasted and ate an entire squirrel in a matter of 2 hours. You were both so pleased with yourself and so ready to execute this moment from start to finish. You both are determined to move to Alaska when you've graduated and make it in the wild in some sort of RV/camper van. I love your sense of adventure!

You have a good chance of surviving those Alaskan days because of your ingenuity, problem solving skills and ability to build and fix all kinds of things. However, should those cold days wear off in Alaska, you have the makings of an engineer. I have no doubt your incredible people skills, great passion for LEGOS, and willingness to jump in and try will help you to be successful. 

You have thrived at Grace Christian as a 6th grader. You were voted the male representative for the 6th grade, and you look forward to your Student Council meetings. You recently declared to me that you plan to run every year because you love talking with others about how to make the school better. Moving up to middle school has also afforded you the opportunity to serve on Sundays in Kids Church and attend youth group during the week. You love being at church, and regularly at staff meeting, I hear someone singing your praises - you jumped in the help with sound, you were willing to dress in a silly costume, you gave someone a compliment or asked how you could help. I'm so proud of you. 

You are your little brother's hero and archenemy depending on the moment. All in all, you love him really well. You love sugar...a lot...and you really enjoy helping make breakfast and any reason to use a knife in the kitchen to chop something. I'm still determined to break you of your preference for graphic novels, as well as your pursuit of collecting knife in all shapes and sizes. What is it with boys and weaponry!

Truly though, we are so proud of you. The way you love others represents your faith so well. We know when you're around everyone will be included, I will likely step on a loose logo or sock and you will have all of us laughing. We love you, bud. Happy 12th birthday!

Love,

Momma

Spring Has Sprung!

It’s been a full, mostly fun, and family-centered spring. There’s been games, races, dancing, a new job, celebrations, lots of training for our big hike and many learning lessons as we navigate high school, middle school, homeschool and a 4th child making sure he has our attention. When we pause to reflect, we easily recognize how incredibly blessed we are. When we get caught up in the day to day, it’s all too easy to get bogged down with the things that aren’t working out as we hoped or the realization that it truly does take a childhood to raise a child and some lessons take longer to learn.

Bring a friend to That Dance Thing night!

Celebrating Easter with a friends and family lunch at our home was such a joy!

Family Easter picture.

The girls had a ball on a 3-day Spring Break youth mission trip with RVA Hope Center.

Family hike and everyone is smiling!

Family strength routine.

Frazier has really improved this season. He’s had some awesome catches playing 3rd base and is really starting to hit the ball. Proud of you, bud!

We are up to 10 beehives, and these 2 do a great job tending to them.

Post race for both of us. Leila had a track meet, and I completed the Ukrop’s 10K on the same day.

We completed a beautiful 8+ mile hike outside of Charlottesville. This one was not all smiles, but we did finish and celebrated with pizza.

T-ball. We're really just here for the snacks, let's be honest, but he sure is cute.

Because Benaiah is in a reverse inclusion class with students with special needs, we were able to participate in the Special Olympics Big Feet Meet at Atlee High School. 

Air-restricting masks to help with altitude training. Not. My. Favorite. At. All.

All of this exercise definitely means we get more ice cream!

Post-hike with the Kells - 6 miles!

Geoff and I loved leading an amazing group through Freedom this semester. Here's most of us after the conference!

Freedom conference baptisms - so special. 

Here's Frazier on one of his many field trips with the homeschool group. He's been on more field trips this year than he ever did in 5 years - what a fun way to learn!

Pretty in pink! Here are the Lawrences and Lighty's at the Spring Ball with That Dance Thing. 

Look at our beautiful girls all grown up and learning to dance. So proud of them completing their first year of ballroom dancing and learning how to have conversations with many different people and conduct themselves in a lady-like way. 


We enjoyed a fun Mother's Day celebration with Nonnie and Granddad at the ballfields followed by a Mexican lunch. Love you, Momma!

Thirteen!!!! Happy Birthday Mary-Michael!

My Dear Mary-Michael, 

My baby girl is now a teenager. Wow, what a treat and still shocking to me that you are this old. Your years left in our home are dwindling too fast! 

You have blossomed into this beautiful young lady with a lot of spunk, a lot of friends and a lot of brains and ideas. You love life and therefore add a lot of life wherever you are. You are thoughtful and love to give gifts to others. You take after your daddy and his generous spirit. You're still Benaiah's best mini-parent and have such a tenderness for him when he's upset. You'll drop just about anything to read to him upon request or tend to him when he's hurt himself. I love and appreciate this about you, and I know you'll be a great mother one day.

Like most young ladies your age, you think a lot about your looks and have therefore become quite the fashionista. Armed with a hair straightener and a curler, you frequently take over the bathroom in the mornings, and since we FINALLY let you use mascara (Merry Christmas gift!), you now take even longer. And frankly, you look much too old for my liking, but that's how it goes, I guess. You still don't have a phone and hardly ever complain. It will come soon enough, but we want to make sure you're ready for the responsibility. 

You really love hand lettering cards and papers of all sorts and have quite the knack for it. This month you were paid to do the hand lettering at a Chick-fil-a for their community board. So neat! Speaking of making money, you've also started babysitting and dog sitting the neighbor's dogs. This is necessary given the love for fashion mentioned above!

You continue to excel in school and love your Grace family. English continues to be your best subject after socializing and gym. You are still a voracious reader, and I pray that never ends. 

Daddy and I truly enjoy being with you (except for when you're sassy), and we know we will have a deep friendship when you are older. You're so much fun, so caring and easy to be with. At your neon-themed birthday party, your friends all took time to share what they loved about you, and the same things echoed: she never leaves anyone out and makes sure everyone is included; she's thoughtful and caring; she's fun and funny. All true!

We love you, we see amazing potential in you and we are proud of you!

All my love,

Momma