Spitfire!

She came home today with that fiery sparkle in her eyes. And I knew she had been riding that mustang again. The mustang that threw her so hard she broke her arm this past fall. That is how Kate is. She gets knocked down and jumps right back up ready to go again. She has always been that child that accepts a challenge and attempts the daring! At 2 she climbed her bookshelves...which came tumbling down with her. At age 8 she hiked herself up a huge hill with her scooter and once at the top, turned around..gave it a healthy push and barrelled her way down the steep hill...eyes big and her long blonde hair flowing behind her, jumping off at the bottom in order to stop. My heart stopped! She jumped up and was ready to do it again! Age 10 she rode her bike up one side of a huge bunker and straight down the other side...over a ditch and over her handlebars! Again my heart stopped as I waited for signs of life. She poked her head up out of the grass...eyes wide, hair toussled...smiling! And this is the pattern of her life! Down the ski hill as fast as she can go...down the slide standing up! Galloping across the field full speed ahead on a 4 year-old mustang! She is amazing in that she decides what she wants and goes for it! Wholeheartedly! And she loves and trusts Christ wholeheartedly!! She listens to Him in the stillness and waits. And she feels in her gut when something is not right and has never been wrong in following that "gut feeling".


We have tried to hang on to her for as long as we could. But it is like trying to hang onto a wild mustang. She is ready to run!! By this time next week she will be in her dorm at Belhaven University in Jackson, MS. Forging her own path by herself. But not alone..she knows God is with her every step of the way and she has learned to listen. Every single face will be a new one. But she will have made her presence known. She walks into a room and lights it up with her big hazel eyes and huge smile eager to meet new people. Her laughter contagious she will have friends within the hour. She faces life head on! And faces life able to laugh at herself. Tears do not come easy for her and I have only seen her break down with immense, exhausting grief twice in her life. The first when her father left for Iraq and the second just recently. She is strong and loving and stubborn and a pure spitfire of a woman! Life with her has been an adventure. From here she is out in the world but not of the world. I love who she has become and excited to see her grow in Him even more. Those who know her are blessed. The man who loves her will have a life of adventure and contentment. Her children, I pray, will be just like her! I love you Kate! Now go get 'em!!