To Milla On Her Fifth Birthday

 

 To Milla on her fifth birthday-

                It is hard to believe that you are five years old! Time has flown and continues to fly. I keep trying to hold on to little precious little girl moments that I have with you. I know that soon, you will be a big girl. I can see you beginning to change into one already.

                We are officially out of the nasty Milla stage. You tested and tried your dad and me with your strong will from about age 2 until about age 4 and a half. Some days were so rough that I didn’t know how you would ever be different from the fit throwing, high maintainence girl that you were. Sometime within this past year though, you rounded a corner. You changed into a sweet little gal. You want to please your parents. You want to do what is right. You have a highly developed conscience. Just last week, you came up and whispered that you had jumped off of your bed wearing your dress up slippers and had accidentally broken them. You said, “I wasn’t supposed to be jumping off of the bed. I want to tell the truth, Momma. I decided not to listen to Satan and tell a lie. I want do what is right.”  My heart smiled. You are learning. God is growing in your heart. I am so proud! I love to see the works He is doing in you!

                Right now, you are an awesome reader.  Mary Alice and Major could both read at your age, but you my dear, are our super reader.  For your birthday, we bought you all of the Laura Ingalls books. You have been pouring over them voraciously during your quiet time each day. You’ve also read through some of The Chronicles of Narnia. Last week, your Bible class teachers said that you read a chapter of the Bible aloud to the whole class. I know that you have circle time with your friends at preschool. They all gather around to hear you read.  It is so precious to hear you reading aloud each day in the school room. You love to read! It makes me excited about Kindergarten next year, because I know that we will have lots of fun together. We can make lots of time to go on field trips and study characters like Laura Ingalls in depth, since you already have the reading thing down. No wasted time. You are a precocious little thing, very curious. You want to be a big girl.

                We just bought you your first Bible. It isn’t unusual for you to be off somewhere reading all alone. God is giving you a love for His Word already. You are so curious. You want to know all about why and how and where everything happens in the Bible stories. You listen to the sermon and make connections. You express intelligent observations about things that you learn in your Bible class. Last week, you got into trouble for being unkind to a friend. We talked with you about how your selfish attitude was not pleasing to God. Your response? With tears in your eyes, you commented, "Do you think this means that God will "plop" me out of His Holy Book?" Crazy?!? I don't know where you get these things. Perhaps it is from your personal Bible reading? I am confident that neither your Dad, nor I have  been talking about God's Holy Book and Him blotting names out with you! You hear EVERYTHING and you take it in! Yikes!

                You are creative. A few weeks ago, one of your teachers told me that you changed up a game she had organized for the class, creating an entirely new game. I think you are an outside the box thinker who likes to think of different ways to do things. I wonder where you get that? :)

                You love to be my  little helper right now. You enjoy putting away the dishes, setting the table, folding the laundry (haphazardly, but oh well), and anything that makes you feel like a big girl. You are very driven. You are a very diligent and hard worker.  You are getting to be so much fun. Your sense of humor is developing. You are hilarious! Your laugh is contagious. You are precious to me.

                You are SO tall! You wear a size 7. Yesterday, I bought a spring dress for you that was size 7. It almost looks like you are about to grow out of it. I’m afraid it might not fit you through the summer. You  have a very healthy self image. Last weekend, you went on a trip with your dad. You looked at your naked self in the mirror and said, “I’m REALLY tall and I look GOOD!” Hilarious. You love to have your hair put into rollers. I roll it in sponge rollers several nights a week. You love to have your nails painted and lip gloss on. You are sure to point out to people if they fail to notice your new hairstyle or spiffy new outfit.

                You are HIGHLY competetive. You dubbed yourself “The Beater” this past year. You don’t want anyone to beat you. Nobody else can beat you to the top of the stairs, to be the fastest, smartest, etc. It is important to you that you win every game, win everything. If you don’t win, you are extremely disappointed. You exclaim, "I am the Beater!" as you try to win at something.

                Sometimes you have an attitude, but you are very sorry when confronted about it. You are snuggly. You love to be hugged and cuddled. You give the best hugs! You like to push the envelope. I can see a rebellious streak in you. You sometimes want to see exactly what will happen if... even if we've told you that something bad might happen or that you shouldn't do something. I hope this attitude never gets you into trouble.

                You LOVE preschool! You are quite a social creature. Even more than preschool, you love Miss Pam, your teacher. I asked Miss Pam to write  a few words about you for your birthday letter this year. Here is what she had to say, “Milla is a wonderful student and leader to all the kids in her Penguin class. She has a love for reading that all teachers aspire to put into the lives of the children they teach. She is a bit quirky with a wonderful sense of who she wants to be. I cherish our time we have had together and feel God has blessed me through her and hopefully vise versa.”

                Did you hear that? You are A LEADER. Some call it bossiness. You have a charisma about you that draws people to you and makes them want to stand up and listen when you have an idea. For the most part, that has served you well. You have had a few little girls tell you that they don’t want to do what you have in mind. For the most part, though, you lead the group. I hope God uses that strong personality of yours for good things.  You can lead people to do good, to follow Jesus, to want to be more like Him, because they see Him in you! Use your leadership for good, Mills.

                We often pray if it is God’s will for you to marry, that He is raising up for you someone who loves Him with all of their heart. That is the most important thing to look for. It isn’t the way he looks, how funny he is, how smart he is, or how he makes you feel. If he loves God the most and wants to serve Him more than ANYTHING else, he is good for you to choose. If he loves other things more than God, God has someone better for you! I know, because I am praying for him. He'd better be strong and kind like your daddy to deal with the likes of you, sweet Mills.

                I know you are only  five, but you need to be thinking about these things even now. You need to be planning for the type of girl God wants to make you into. You need to be wise with the precious gift of your life. Don't waste time going the wrong direction or listening to the wrong voices. Be wise. God can do wonderful things through you, if only you look to Him to guide you and be your strength.

                We love you, sweet Milla girl! You are the precious gift we prayed for. You are an answer to our prayers! You are the girl I wanted, our precious little spitfire with a twinkle in her eye. You are the best. I can’t wait to see what plans God has for your life.  Love you, girl! Happy fifth birthday!