Our Destiny Hope is graduated from eighth grade! She keeps asking me, "Mom! Do you realize I am a freshman?" She knows that I am freaking out at her being in high school next year. Okay, not really "freaking" but wishing I could pull back time. Yet, totally touched by the young woman she is and is becoming.
I didn't realize that eighth grade grad was so important, but when Destiny wanted a new dress and shoes and we shopped at four - five different stores and then fell into the Swagger exhausted with no dress or shoes, I realized this is a big event! remember, since we did not have a lot of money, my mom often made my clothes for special events. She had made me a lovely white dress with a sash. My dad was on a cycling bike trip with a bunch of high schoolers (High School Bible Teacher) and my principal/staff called him home and made sure he was at my event because they thought it was a big deal. I had been voted by the school student body and staff a prestigious award.
To our great joy, my niece, Petra (one of Destiny's Besties) is here for the weekend. So, the girls both got ready for the event together. I had a "hair curling" chair in my bathroom and we primped, curled and dazzled. It's funny because Destiny does not like much fuss over her appearance. She wears very little, if any, make-up and does not mess with her hair, so when she does, I'm not always sure what to do. But by the end of it all, she looked absolutely lovely. I always pretend to be seriously stern, and joke with my girls (especially Julie) that they can not wear something or do their hair a certain way because it makes them look way too old! Like a teenager! They love it!! :-)
Destiny did wonderful with her class presentations, speech and the entire day. We are so proud of her. She is blossoming into such a beautiful young lady. For her grad gift we got her a tree necklace she had been wanting and with it we wrote some words of affirmation over her embedded in one of her favorite scriptures ~ Psalms 1. What a lovely daughter, growing like a tree planted by rivers of living water, roots going deep and bearing beautiful fruit. That, for sure, is our Destiny Hope.
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever they do prospers . . . For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous." ~ Psalm 1
