Dear Maddie,
Today you are 15 years old.
Finally. Already. I say “finally” because you seem so much
older than you are at times. And I say
“already” because those 15 years went by in an absolute flash.
You are an extremely determined young woman. You approach so many challenges in life with
a quiet calm resolve. The work to
succeed is hard at times, but you put in the time and the effort and often it
pays off. You get very good grades in
school because you try. The flip side is
that you put a lot of pressure on yourself and at times that’s too much of a
burden to bear. We always tell you that
trying hard and doing your best is great, but that no one expects
perfection. You set a high bar for
yourself and I admire your drive to succeed.
But I hope you have grace for yourself too.
It was fun to watch you play high school sports this past year. You loved volleyball and it showed. You enthusiastically went to every practice (even the off-season ones) and never complained about all the bumps and bruises on your body. We loved seeing you play your role with that calm, unshakeable control that you exhibit on the court. I know you loved it and I look forward to watching you in the years to come.
It was a tough year for you in basketball. You struggled and fought to keep your heart
in the sport and there were some really hard days to work through. I know that you walked out of that season
with some wounds – the kind I couldn’t patch up with a bandage or ease with an
ice pack. And what I saw was not a girl
who had this amazing experience, but a girl who just consistently showed up,
put in the effort, supported her teammates, and gave 100% effort in every
minute of the game. You are so cool and
calm on the court, but beneath all that I see incredible grit. That is a beautiful piece of you. And I hope you never lose it.
You are a musically gifted girl – that we always knew. This year you tried out both band and
choir. Choir stole your heart. You love singing and performing. You have a lovely, rich voice with great
pitch and tone. God gifted you with a
beautiful voice and as much as I love watching you enjoy using it, I even more
love that you use it for His praise and His glory. Whether it be on praise team, concert choir,
or wherever you find yourself performing, I pray that you will never lose that
joy.
You are the house fashionista. This should not be surprising to anyone. I remember 4-year-old Maddie coming home from
preschool and wanting to put on lip gloss.
Not a lot has changed! You put
together outfits that always look cute.
You help some of your fashion-challenged family members dress
better. You are a makeup artist and your
favorite place to spend a LOT of time is Sephora. You don’t buy much because you are too smart
to blow hundreds of dollars on skin care and makeup, but you love to look at
all of it. If I ever have a product
question, you are the person with the answers.
You don’t really love working, but you definitely love
having money to spend. The other day you
got paid for a big month and you were pretty excited. So excited you thought you would just go out
and buy your own car. Fortunately (for
us) you didn’t have enough to buy your own set of wheels. But you do love a good shopping spree. Even as I say that though I am thankful for
the restraint and wisdom. You know just
exactly how hard you worked for that money, and you don’t spend it frivolously
(despite what your Dad may say about your lululemon purchases). And even though you don’t love working, you
are a reliable and friendly face at the local bakery.
You are still amazing with young children. You dream of becoming a schoolteacher one
day. Your favorite thing is to teach 3rd
grade VBS in the summer. This year you
were the youngest teacher to ever be “on staff” in our preschool ministry at
our church. Just like VBS, you would
take your lesson plan, practice it in your room – reading it all aloud behind a
closed door. You have a wonderful way of taking material
and making it fun and interactive. You
created whole games and scavenger hunts each day in VBS. Your classroom was decorated and designed to
the max. You have so much energy and
patience for little kids that it just amazes me.
Being in the middle might be difficult for some kids, but
it’s the perfect place for you. If
Reagan is busy, you have Hunter. If
Hunter is busy, you have Reagan. You
love your siblings well and rarely have big fights. Make no mistake, you do annoy them to death
at times. But you also care so deeply
about them and them for you. I love the
friendship that exists between the three of you.
You love the beach (we learned that this past summer). You love pandas, hugs and peach rings. You love watermelon more than you
should. You love your wonderful group of
friends. You love aesthetic spaces, gold
jewelry and Taylor Swift. You love making
people laugh and taking countless pictures on your phone. You read so many books we had to buy a Kindle
for you because lugging 800+ page books around was becoming a problem. You love word art, taking notes, and
Nanalan. You love acting but despise drama. You’re an incredibly fun 15-year-old girl.
I hope I never forget the way you tease your Dad at the
dinner table till he cracks a smile. I
hope I never forget the way you sound when you laugh hard while you try to tell
us about something funny that happened at school. I hope I never forget the way you make funny
voices or faces and lighten the whole atmosphere.
I’m proud of your accomplishments, yes. But more so I am proud of the beautiful young
woman you are growing up to be. I see so
many qualities in you that echo Jesus. I
know you have a deep faith and a gentle spirit and a wisdom far beyond your
years. I remember being afraid to have
teenage daughters someday. And yes,
there are hard days. There are days
where your hurts so easily feel like mine.
There are days where you don’t like me all that much. There are days when I wish for the “good ol’
days” of parent-problems like sleepless nights or picky eaters because teenage
issues are tough! But there are so many
more beautiful moments – days where I am just so deeply grateful that I get to
do this life with you. I’m so thankful
that I’ve been the one to walk alongside you through these 15 years. And I’m so excited to see all that God has in
store for you.
I love you, Maddie Grace.
Love,
~Mom
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