Dear Harper,
Today (9/6/22) is your 6th birthday! YAY!!! You’ve been waiting for this one for quite some time. Being 6 has been a big deal for you because it means you FINALLY get to go to school. I hope you are as excited about being in school when you are in the 9th grade as you are in kindergarten.
This has been an exciting year for you. Of course the BIGGEST change in your life is that you aren’t the baby in your family any more. The twins have taken that role and you are FINALLY a big sister. You have accepted that role in the fashion which I expected. You are a “little momma” to Hadlee and Holland and you are a big help to momma and daddy. The twins are just going to love you so much.
You’ve started learning how to ride a bike this year and Poppo and Nanna got you a new bike for your birthday and when you come to our house, you want to immediately go outdoors and ride. Your favorite thing continues to be playing with all your baby dolls and stuffed animals. When you are at my house, you bring three or four to me and want to know if I will “keep the kids” for you to go to work. As a good Poppo, I always agree. Sometimes you have to take one of “the kids” over to Nanna for some medical advice or to be sewn up. Nanna is our resident Doc McStuffins. You love Disney songs and you and I love to watch “Olaf Presents.” That’s where Olaf tells all the Disney stories in his own “special way.” I’ve never heard anybody laugh as hard as you do when Olaf gives us “the smolder.” (Adults, you will just have to look this one up on YouTube. It actually is pretty funny.)
One of the things I have always loved about you is that you are an encourager. This past Sunday, you and me and Hudson went over to Sevierville to play putt putt. You made a hole-in-one on the very first hole. We all celebrated. You spent the next few holes pulling for me and Hudson to make a hole-in-one. It took us a while but every shot we hit, you were begging for it to go in the hole. If it didn’t, you would say, “Poppo, that was a good try. You’ll get it next time.” When I FINALLY did make one, you jumped up and down excited for my accomplishment. You did the same with Hudson. That’s your personality.
There is something inside every one of us that wants to be noticed. We all want to know that somebody cares about us. I think some of the saddest words in the Bible are in Psalm 142:4 where David says, “No one cares for my soul.” All around us there are people who are looking for just a little encouragement. Unfortunately, most of us are so focused on ourselves and “our needs” that we fail to see and recognize the needs of others.
The dictionary defines encouragement as “the act of inspiring othes with renewed courage, renewed spirit, or renewed hope.” In the Bible, the word most often translated as “encouragement” is a word that is a combination of two Greek words: para which means “alongside of,” and kaleo which means “to call.” When somebody comes alongside us during difficult times to give us renewed courage or renewed hope — that’s encouragement.
I think that is a picture of you, Little Bit. No matter who it is and no mater what the situation, you are right there to come alongside and call us to renewed courage and hope. God has blessed you with that gift and God has blessed us with YOU! I pray that as you continue to grow and mature, you will continue to exercise the gift God has given you.
I already see it in kindergarten. We are already hearing stories of how you encourage other students who may be a little scared of all the new things around them. You are already encouraging your little sisters when you kiss their head and when you tell them how much you love them. You have been an encouragement to me in what has been a pretty difficult year in life and ministry.
Every day I wake up to a world that seems to be more confused than it was the day before. Every time I think I’ve found a way out of a “crisis,” something blindsides me from another direction. You are a bright spot in the midst of a confusing world because you are an encourager!
Remember, Little Bit — Poppo loves you and I always will. There is absolutely nothing you can do to change that. I won’t always agree with everything you do, but there is nothing you will ever do to make me stop loving you. All your family feels the same way.
I hope year 6 is all you expect it to be. Continue to love God and love others. You are most definitely still #myFavoriteRedHead!
I love you.
Love,
Poppo
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