H turns 13 today. She is such a beautiful young lady. Yes, we have our teenager/parent moments, but overall, she is an incredible girl. She is the oldest of the crew and handles that responsibility very well most of the time. She loves her siblings and is helpful with them.



She is doing very well in the 8th grade. She is a straight A student and even has 99-100 % averages in most of her classes.



She has overcome a lot of physical problems and has been able to again try the sport she loves, gymnastics. Many days are hard, but she is a fighter.



She is very involved with her church youth group. She is known as a leader there and has made many wonderful bonds with the kids there. She loves Jesus and has quite a bold witness with her school friends. She is never ashamed to wear Christian shirts or to speak about God and church. Several of her friends have come with us to services and one family is even regular attenders now.



H is who she is. She has an amazing gift in the fact that she does not seem to be heavily influenced by the crowd. She is definitely not a girly-girl, but is not completely on the other side either. She is everyone's friend. Everyone likes her, everyone enjoys being around her. She doesn't have a "group", but is connected somehow with everyone. Most of the time, people guess her to be a year or two older than she is because of her stability and character.



H's true inner beauty has really started shining through with our decision to move overseas. She will probably be one of the most affected of the kids. However, she has accepted the transition and is ready to do what God has called us to do. Yes, she has another side that wishes not to go because of all of her friends, but she also has a heart for the poor and underprivileged and unreached.



All in all, she is a beautiful young lady with a wonderful future ahead of her.



Happy Birthday, HB! You are a treasure.