Happy 7th Birthday Tori

Happy 7th Birthday, Tori !

Tomorrow is our daughter’s birthday.  We are leaving town tomorrow morning early for a weekend celebration, so I am posting today.  What a thrill it was for me to be there, my sweet Tori Bug, the day you were born.  Because it was a C-section, I got to see you even before Mommy did (but not before the Lord saw you first!)  You are a beautiful young girl, so smart, so very creative, and hysterically funny.  You make up jokes that really do make me laugh out loud.  I love watching your confidence grow each year and the courage you have.  I love hearing you talk about God like He is very real to you.  I love seeing your love for your siblings.  You can throw a good punch, but your old man can still beat you in wrestling (I know that tickle spot well).  You are a leader among your friends wherever you are and you will no doubt influence hundreds and thousands with the goodness of our God.  I’m confident of that!  Hearing you say, “Mom, Dad, I’m just dying to be baptized so I can take Communion!” brings a smile to my face because I realize the Spirit of God is working in your heart to bring you to an understanding of the nature of sin and man’s need for reconciliation.  You already love Jesus and I love hearing you singing in your bed when I walk by your room in the morning…whether it is a modern worship song or a timeless hymn (you know Christmas carols are especially my favorites).  You will always be my “Bug” despite the funny looks from people when I call you that.  You’ve always been so “cute as a bug” that I can’t think of anything else, and I have little desire to retire the designation.  

We’ve had some great birthdays over the years….#1 (1999) was a fun lady bug cake; #2 (2000) was a farm animal fair; #3 (2001) was the ocean cake teeming with swimming goldfish crackers; #4 (2002) was your Wendy cake (Bob the Builder’s assistant); #5 (2003) was your fun Clifford party over in Togo; #6 (2004) was the really difficult castle cake (with the high humidity causing the icing to drip right off the pillars) for your Princess birthday celebration, and now, 2005, we are ready for Tori’s Wild Western Roundup!  Tori is just as authentic as any cowgirl from Texas!

We are anticipating a super weekend at the beach with some missionary friends from Togo and their kids.  We will arrive on Saturday and spend the day with the Crowson kids (Stephen and Matthew) and then on Sunday, the Parker boys arrive (Jeremy and Jonathan).  We’ll officially party Sunday evening once everyone arrives.  We’ll be in Cotonou for the few days of next week…we’ll post some (sure to be) fun pictures as soon as possible!

Happy 7th Birthday, my Tori Bug!
Love,
Dad