Five

My sweet little Keziah turns 5 today.

She's done a lot of growing up in this last year. A year ago she was still at home with me every day, all day, and now she's a full-time Kindergartener! During her few short months of preschool in the spring I felt a little leery about how she would handle full-day K. At one point I was very sure that I would wait another year to put her in. But I decided to go for it, and she's doing better than I expected. Other than the odd Friday afternoon konk-out session - where we'll find her passed out in random places around the house - she seems to be adjusting well!

In this last year - especially in the last few months - I've seen her come out of her timid little shell. She lights up when she sees her little friends at school and seems to have found a new comfort zone in her Kindergarten classroom. One of her teachers told me that she actually takes a little bit longer to get her work done now because she's chatting more with her friends during class - but after her very shy and quiet start to the year, her teachers agreed they would let her continue for a little while before reprimanding her for talking when she should be working :)

Keziah is definitely cut from the same cloth as I am - she loves quiet activities and would rather spend time inside than outside. Despite having 2 brothers, she is a true girly-girl. Our mutually favourite activity is when she "does" my hair. I get to lay on the couch or my bed while she clips every single hair-clip into my hair and then proceeds to take them all out and start again :)

A very significant thing happened just last week when Keziah decided she wanted Jesus to live in her heart. While we were in the van one day, Micah started talking about what it would be like to see "bad guys" in real life. I explained that bad guys are just normal people who make bad choices. We talked for awhile about choices and Micah announced that he wanted to choose to "follow God and go to church." I commented that that was a really great choice. Keziah was quiet during this whole conversation, but at that point she piped up - in a very sad voice - and said, "But I don't even know how to ask Jesus into my heart!" So, that night she prayed with Erik and I, and decided to become a Christian!

Fast forward a few days later to Saturday - the day of Keziah's rainbow-themed birthday party (of which I will post pictures soon!). Before eating breakfast, Erik asked if anyone wanted to pray and Micah said that he wanted to (which definitely isn't something that happens every day around here). His prayer went like this:

"Dear God, thank you that it's Keziah's birthday party today.

Thank you that Keziah asked Jesus into her heart.

Help her to grow into a godly girl.

Amen."

We were so touched by his thoughtful prayer and both commented to him about how special it was, to which Micah cheered, "Woohoo! I'm the champion of praying!!"

I guess humility is next on the list of character traits to teach our kids??

This morning we gave Keziah her birthday gifts.

The first was a Belle dress-up dress.


And the second was this silver heart necklace. I bought it from my mom who sells Jolica jewellery - which is all hand-made by artisans in developing countries and sold using fair trade principles. I thought it was a special gift for a special 5-year-old girl.

Happy birthday Keziah - we love you!