A Letter to my [not so baby] sister

Hey little girl, you're sixteen today. Sixteen. First of all, I would like to congratulate you on surviving year fifteen. Fifteen will really put you through the wringer. (Ask Taylor Swift's friend Abigail.)

You have been on this earth for sixteen years and already have so much to show for it. You've been an extra in two blockbuster movies and been featured in a documentary by an award winning film maker. You have lived in five cities, across three states and over two continents. You have
surfed the Atlantic, Pacific and East China Sea. You are quite the adventurer.

I think anyone that meets you knows that you're brave, honest (sometimes to a fault), you can be harsh, and you're not afraid of offending anyone. You thrive on doing what is not expected from you, and you have very little tolerance for closed-minded people.Those are the things you wear on your sleeve. Those are the things you love for people to know about you. 

What you have to be your sister to

know:

- You care about people more than you want to show

- You hate to be in the spotlight

- You would rather be caught not wearing clothes, than to be caught crying.

- You would be the first one to stick up for anyone hurting

- Babies freak you out a little bit, but you love to do what scares you, so you hold them and play with them anyway

And the last thing, the thing you probably don't even know, is how proud I am of you. Katybug, you have got this whole world at your fingertips. You are strong and brave and you push me to do things that I would never dream of. Even though you are my little sister, in so many ways you are the one I most look up to. Your encouragement has really gotten me through so many difficult times and I am so excited that as you get older our friendship continues to get stronger. Not everyone is blessed with such a brave baby sister and I am so glad that I can call you such a dear friend. I am praying for you and I know the Lord has such an incredible plan for your life. He has and will continue to bring broken people into your life and I can't wait to see the way he uses your life to build the kingdom. It is an honor and a joy to have you for a sister. 

Happy sixteenth birthday, Katybug. Stir up some trouble this year.