Happy Birthday, Bethany!

I’ll take a break from my regularly-scheduled-blogging-about-the-Oregon-Coast to shout out Happy Birthday to my favorite–now-nine-year-old! The moment you were born, Bethany, I gave thanks because now I had two daughters and they each had a sister, which was what I had prayed for.

We named you Bethany for a lot of reasons…I had a student named Bethany that I dearly loved, the meaning of “house of the Lord” or “house of joy” was meaningful for us after having a miscarriage before getting pregnant with you, and because of a dear friend named Beth. We gave you the middle name of Jean after your Grandma, to honor her, and we are so thankful we did. We thought we might call you BJ, and once in a while I do and your Grandpa does, but it didn’t really seem to stick.

As a baby and toddler you wouldn’t get dirty or wet…now we can’t keep you from getting messy in your quest to discover things about this world. As a baby and a toddler you sucked your thumb constantly and would never call attention to yourself, and now you sing solos on a stage in front of an audience and you do it beautifully! As a young preschooler you were shy, except around your friends, and you still tend to hold back while you scope out a situation until you have a good understanding. That’s a good thing. You are always asking questions until you understand and that is a great mind in the making.

You are going to be great at whatever God calls you to do and I can’t wait to sit back and watch as you discover what that is. Happy 9th Birthday, dear Bethany!