Our Baby’s 20th—The Saga Continues
Well….I’d planned to have a fabulous tribute post to our daughter Kenna who turns 20 tomorrow. But well…..let’s just say that for the last 20 years this girl has kept this momma on her toes and on her knees.
The last 24 hours has been no different.
When she was little we lived through ER visits, a battle with her long hair & a hand mixer where the mixer won. It tore out a 3-inch circle of her waist-length hair clear down to her scalp. (She was attempting to make my 38th birthday cake!)
Once she got an earring back embedded & grown into her ear without her knowing. ER again.
She jumped off a merry-go-round into her dads arms. He missed & she got hurt. ER yet another time.
She fell off her dad’s shoulders & broke an arm. She was now on a first name basis with the ER folks.
She’s totaled two cars–one the first day of Driver’s Ed (not her fault).
She’s gotten lost too many times to count.
She never quite fit the mold in the serious circles in which we sometimes ran when she was growing up. When the other girls were in smocked dresses with pigtails, she wanted to wear bell bottoms & sparkle lip gloss.
She’s always spoken her mind & never had a problem saying, “Excuse me teacher (or grandma or pastor, or state trooper) but where in the Bible does it say XYZ???
She’s always been unconventional. Fashionable. Edgy. Opinionated. Dramatic.
Nearly made the ‘church ladies’ faint often with her out-of-the-box antics.
But we also saw in her a love for the underdogs; the less-than-lovely; the struggling; the “non perfect”.
Last week, she trekked off on an eight-hour round trip to her state boards for cosmetology without the stand for her mannequin’s head. They still allowed her to try to pass though she was told it was nearly impossible.
She prayed that the Lord who can move mountains & cause the sun to stand still would make her mannequin’s head not move & stand still too during the 5 hour test!
She passed with 10 points to spare.
Yesterday, she missed her early am flight & was stranded at the Charlotte airport for 10 hours before being able to catch another flight home. A total of 17 hours traveling home. (It usually takes 4!)
We got home at 2 am. At 5:30 am she woke me up with severe chest pains & away we flew to ER.
Looooooong story short.
She swallowed a strong prescription pill last week that is only supposed to be taken on a full stomach. It lodged in her lower esophagus and dissolved there burning into the liner.
Now the combo of the stress of yesterday, of starting her first job as a cosmetologist on Wednesday at a salon & too many acidic foods & caffeine caused that burn to burn even more causing the intense pain.
She took numbing drugs & a take-home script. It should heal over time.
Now we’re home. Her brothers just served her breakfast in bed & I am sitting here pondering.
I’m thanking God for my spunky, strong-willed, always-flies-by-the-seat-of-her-pants-but-usually-lands-standing-up baby girl.
She’s had her moments. We’ve had our spats & squabbles & intense personality clashes.
But by God’s amazing grace, we’ve seen Him take this “I’ll do it my way” young woman & mold her into one who loves Jesus & longs for others to have a real relationship with Him & not just “play church”.
I discovered this song a month ago when her 16-year-old brother heard this artist in concert. It so perfectly describes her life.
Seriously. It is like she could have written it!!
Take a listen if you have time. And Happy 20th to our Kenna!
We love you. Dents in your fender, rips in your jeans–and all!
Listen here: http://youtu.be/EKSQjSdU8VA