A Beehive.

I have NEVER gone this long without a post!

But...

It has been refreshing. Liberating. Exhilarating?
Okay, maybe not exhilarating, but with so many commitments taking over my life...my blog was the one thing I felt I could control. The one thing that was supposed to be enjoyable, but turned into just another commitment. And it was the one thing I felt like I could easily say "NO" to. :)

So after a few weeks of laying low...I am slowly reintroducing myself to the enjoyment of blogging. I'm not even adding the extra effort of pictures...I'm just typing.

Ahhhhhhhhhh.

This has been a birthday weekend for our family. :)
Today is mine, but that's neither here nor there...the big news is that my first baby, Miss B, is now 12!!

Wow. That ages a person fast.

My beautiful B is a full-fledged young woman. (At the ages of 12-18, the girls in our church begin a Young Women's program. It is inspired and beautiful and a blessing for all involved. The first stage is a "Beehive".) So my B is now a Beehive. I love that. :)

She went to Young Women's and to her Beehive class for the first time yesterday and absolutely loved it! (I knew she would.) The cutest thing to me was this:

Backstory...
I introduced B to the YW's theme a few months ago and asked her to memorize it. It is a lovely statement of each girl's divine nature and infinite worth as a daughter of God. She memorized it fairly quickly and then over the past few weeks kind-of forgot about it. She decided yesterday morning it might be a good idea to refresh her memory before going to YW for the very first time, where they recite it weekly. (It really is touching to hear their sweet voices.) After saying the theme over and over and over to herself, she was ready!

What happened...
B memorized it according to her own personal cadence. For those of you who have had a conversation with her, you'll know her own personal cadence can be quicker than the norm. :) So as all the young women stand and recite the theme, you can hear B barrel right through every pause and breath taken by the rest of the group. The first time, not so noticeable. The second time, I wished I was close enough to whisper "breathe, baby". The third time, a few girls were cutting their eyes around the room trying to figure out who was out of sync. I think by the last part, B remembered to breathe and joined in on the last pause or two.

Why I loved it...
I could hear B's sweet voice over all the others. I also knew how hard she was trying to remember all the words and how much she wanted to just fit in.
And she does fit in. Not only is she already loving this new program and stage in her life, but she was so warmly welcomed by all the girls. She is going to be so incredibly blessed by the YW's program. We all are. B is just beginning to catch a glimpse of her potential. And I can tell you...it is beyond measure.

Funny story about B...
B was visiting a friend and wound up helping to snap peas or string beans or something garden-ny. She was apparently chatting quite a bit because this is what she said:
"I think I've been talking a lot.
I'm feeling kind of light-headed."

Now that is what brings joy to blogging. :)