Emma and watching the seeds of parenting bear fruit.

Emma means whole or complete, and that is what she does, she completes our family.  To complete means that it is whole and lacking nothing.

Ava Rose Loves her " Emmy"

The Lord knew that Emma would be the finishing touch on our family.  Her sister prayed faithfully for her to come and come she did when Abbey was about to turn seven.

Sisters and best friends

Emma was a laid back baby, quite content and eventually became a strong willed child.  Take heart all you parents of strong willed children. :)Call me crazy but even though pre-teens and teens are some of the hardest years. There is a part of me that loves them the best because that is when the fruit begins to grow. All the seeds that you have planted for years under go one hard deep weeding as they are faced with the question of ,whose voice they will listen to? Who am I ? Will I let my peers tell me who I am or will I let my Savior? While this can be an extremely painful time it is also quite beautiful. For my own Emma, I hated that this coincided with so much pain from extremely difficult family crisises  one after another culminating in her Father's death. But I must say instead of crumbling under the weight of it all I have seen her dig deeper and press more into her Heavenly Father and who HE says that she is.  

I am so thankful the Lord saw fit to give her two brothers.

Emma also means " healer" or " protector" and that is what she does.  She is the beautiful servant that flits around the house looking for someone to serve or encourage. She is on the look out for whose heart is heavy so that she may intervene and find a way to bring healing to your heart.Her quick wit and one- liners keep us laughing on the hardest of days. When I come to pray with her at night she in turn prays for me. How does she know that this is one of the things I miss the most from Alan's absence, someone praying over me. She chooses bravery when the enemy comes to attack her own heart and runs to her Father for comfort. She is our ever present DJ and loves to fill our home and car with music. Sing any popular song and she can tell you who sings it and belt it out with you.  If our family was a piece of art she would definitely be the glitter placed on top to add that something extra that you didn't even know you needed but was absolutely essential for the very fabric of who we are. We celebrate you EMMA and the beautiful beginning of your 16th year!

My sidekick. So, so thankful!