Faith I

When Faith was little and Stephen and I were only dating, she used to call him Stevie B.  He wasn't just Stevie B though, he was HER Stevie B.  When he and I were married, she stood at the alter on his right and held his hand through the entire ceremony.  She believed it was her wedding day too.  When we first discussed selling the house, quitting our jobs, and moving here, she was there for every conversation.  After all, she would be giving up just as much as us.  She was active in so many school sports and clubs, and she had a large group of friends and a great youth group at the church.  I thought as soon as we mentioned it to her, the idea would be shot down immediately.  It wasn't.  She knew right away God wanted us here - probably even before I did.  She was amazing.  She had a strength I never had as a teenager.  Stephen tells me constantly that she is "Just like her Momma,"  but not when I was her age.  I was a follower.  She is a leader.  I played volleyball.  She plays basketball.  I was a drummer.  She plays piano and flute.  I had a different boyfriend every week.  She has little patience for teenage boys.  She and I have always been very close.  When my mother was 18, she was recruited by the Secretary of State's office right out of her 6 week data input class.  She spent the remainder of her adult life traveling 4 hours to visit her mother and siblings.  I left for college the summer after high school, and had to travel the same four hours to visit my mom.  I only stayed away for a few years though and then came home.  In the end, I lived right next door to my mom before coming here.  I miss my mom.  I miss my dad.  I miss my sister.  Today, Faith got on the bus for her first day at her new school.  She was nervous.  I was terrified.  Today was another one of those days when I rethought every decision we have made in the last six months.  She is so much stronger than I - not at all like her Momma.  She has been so much help in the house this summer.  She has knocked down walls.  She has cleaned up 120 year old animal carcasses.  She has installed insulation.  She has run power tools.  I love watching her and Stephen working together in the house.  They laugh and fight and laugh some more.  I asked her if she wanted me to drive her to school this  morning and drop her off at the door right before the bell rang so all she had to do was go straight to her first hour class and sit down.  That's what I would have done.  She said no.  She wanted to get on the bus at 7:15 this morning.  She said she thought she would meet more people that way.  She is fearless.  I am terrified.  All summer long she has gone everywhere with us.  If Stephen was running to the hardware store or lumber yard, or I was going to the grocery store she wanted to go.  She tried to find people she thought were her age or may be in her class.  She just wanted to meet someone.  She searched Facebook for kids who may be in her class too.  Today she got on the bus and she only knew one person on there - basically alone.  That would have been enough to put me over the edge when I was her age.  Not her - not at all like her Momma.  She was fearless.  Excited.  Ready to meet new people and have new adventures.  The bus picked her up this morning in the same place where my mother and her siblings used to get on.  She was first taken to the school where my mom used to attend before being taken to the middle school.  She was walking a very historic route.  I wished we could have had her wake up in her new room this morning.  The insulation and plastic are up.  The dry wall is going up.  The kitchen cabinets have arrived, and the kitchen is being wired.  I would have lost my patience by now when I was her age.  I wasn't the most patient of kids.  She doesn't even notice we live in a camper except when the girls want to eat breakfast and she is still sleeping on the table - not at all like her Momma.  I think I would have said, "go eat somewhere else!"  But she doesn't.  She groans a bit and then gets up so her sisters can eat.  She has a very mature spirit.  She is smart.  She is beautiful.  She is kind and compassionate.  She is brave.  Nothing like her Momma.  Sunday she stood on stage before a room full of people she barely knows and lead worship.  I was so amazed at her courage, but she knows what she stands for.  She loves her God and is not afraid to proclaim it to the masses - just like her Momma.