Emily

Encouraging
Melodic and Meek
Instinctive
Lovely
Yielding

That's my girl, my precious Emily....and oh how precious she is. From the moment she awakes in the morning she fills my heart with encouragement. She constantly tells me that I am beautiful and she loves me and how I need to hear both of those alot. When my tank is empty this girl fills me up. She always has a song in her heart and it usually something that has to do with her love for Jesus and oh how I can be taken into the presence of God just hearing her sing about His love. She is so meek and humble, never exalting herself and given that she never thinks about herself makes it so easy for her be aware of others. She instinctively seems to always be very aware of the heart and emotions of those she cares about and knows exactly how to give them what they need. Lovely doesn't seem adequate in describing her beauty for it goes far beyond a physical attractiveness and she is very much yielding, trying always to please.

Life with Emily is FULL of joy. She continues to grow in her capacity to love more and more deeply. This year has been full of adjustments for her with the biggest being losing her position as the baby of our family. She absorbed the change with grace and love and embraced her little brother with acceptance and compassion. I think she understood completely that like herself he was rescued and was up for the challenge of fulfilling her role in the mission. She quickly became his caregiver while spending her mornings with him while I was at work. She rose to the occasion and worked tirelessly at keeping him out of trouble during the mornings when Mike was trying to get work done at home. After being a super big sis in the morning she would arrive at school for afternoon kindergarten and oh how I loved to see her sweet face in the middle of my work day. Emily grew in so many ways during her year of Kindergarten. She developed sweet friendships and learned to be strong. She gained so much confidence and independence while maintaining her humbleness and huge heart.

This school year has been fantastic for her. She confidently walks to class each day, eagerly answers questions during class time and has the most loving teacher we could have ever asked for who is truly a gift from God. Academically, she amazes us....she reads so well and loves math but scores her highest in loving! She continues to love gymnastics and we feel certain she will be on the competitive team soon. Oh how I love watching this girl do things were were told that she would never do because of her club feet. Music is certainly in her future and we are trying to figure out how to fit in some piano. She adores her daddy and gives the most wonderful hugs in the world. I love her so much and am so proud of how she has weathered the storm of life with her typhoon of a little brother. When life gets really tough....Emily is my soft place to land.