A Big Week of "Ds" at the Birdnest

A couple of important milestones are happening with the girls of the Birdnest, and as a proud dad, I thought I'd share them here.

A Double-Digits Daughter
It does not seem possible, but I am now the father of a 10-year-old daughter. My eldest, K, turned the big One-Oh yesterday. When asked by her Grandpa Bird on the phone last night if she felt different, she said "yeah, a little!" :o)

But she wasn't as excited about turning 10 as we thought she would - she told LeAnn last week that the bad thing about becoming double digits is that most people die in their double digits. Thankfully she isn't a pessimist most days...

I thanked God last night before our family celebration for choosing to place K in our family. Her laugh lights up our rooms, her creative mind is a blessing (most days!) to those around her, and her hunger for God is inspiring. She is a great big sister, a wonderful helper, a motivated learner, and an amazing daughter. K's name comes from the Greek word meaning "grace", and it truly was God's grace that has blessed us with K's presence. We love our little "venezolana" (who isn't so little anymore), and are thrilled she is part of the Birdnest. Happy Birthday, K!

A Duly-Dunked Daughter
While I was gone in the Czech Republic, my children watched video devotionals I made for the them. In one of the videos I made for M, I went out to Palo Lake to talk about fish (from Matthew 13:47-50). To help M know where I was, I mentioned I was at the spot where our church has held summer baptisms the past few years.

When the video was done, M turned to LeAnn and said "so when can I get baptized"? This led to a great conversation about the meaning of baptism, who gets baptized, and more. The conversation continued once I got back home from my trip, and much to my surprise, my shy little 7-year-old truly was ready to make her public stand of her faith in Christ.

So tomorrow night I get the honor of baptizing my second daughter at 7:00 pm out at the Pleasant Creek State Park. All on her own M decided that this was the right thing for her as a Christ-follower to do. And I couldn't be more proud (in the righteous sense of the word!).