On the basis that I am going to give you these letters when you are older, I am going to let you in on a secret. Unlike most of the other letters I have written (with the possible exception of the one for when you were three) I have struggled a bit to write this. I have discovered that seven is an age I struggle with, you are very much working out *who* you are at the moment and I think I am struggling to let go of who I want you to be. If I am honest, the two don't always seem to marry, but my job is to help you grow and guide you to independence, not to make you into exactly who I want you to be, so we will work out together the best way to navigate this season and in the meantime there are so many wonderful things about you that we will still have lots of fun and write plenty of lovely things this year.
So, what can I say about Naomi. First you are a creator. You love to craft, you love to design, you love to make, you love to stick, cut and colour. If you can't do more crafty thinking then you are happy to bake or cook. You are ever so good at it too, recently we had to make a costume for you to be in a show with the Brownies, I walked into the room with the brief "make an octopus costume" and I was incredibly overwhelmed, I had no idea what to do. You did though, you just picked up all the bits and bobs and by the end we had a brilliant octopus costume.
You regularly tell us you want to be a designer when you are older and I could quite believe it will happen and if it does I know you'll be brilliant at it. I believe you are made in the image of God and I believe that God is the *ultimate* creator and this is an aspect of God's character that I think you emulate beautifully.
You have a wonderful sense of joy in an occasion and I love it. I pray you will never lose it. You can always find a bit of fun in something.
Moving has always been your favourite state to be in, you even seem to move in your sleep, as in you never seem to be in complete rest. Increasingly though we find that you will sit still for a screen and (I find this one easier to approve) a book. I love to watch you read, not least of all as I imagien the more you read the even more incredible your story telling will become, and let's face it, stories are just creating with words, and we've already established that you are a creator!
You are a fabulous big sister. Most of the time. You love to play with your sisters, and you are very good at it too. Admittedly you have recently informed us that you would like us to have two more children and for them to be boys, sorry that we can't/won't oblige you on that one, but you have a lovely relationship with your siblings and it makes me proud to watch you take care of them.
You're a right dafty, which is good, it would be hard to fit into the family if you weren't. I am *so* glad you are here and so glad God gave you to me. I find it challenging but I believe you to be worth every moment of it. You are beautiful, intelligent, wonderful and fun and you make me smile each and every day.
My prayer for you this year is this. That you would learn to trust more in God, that you would cast your worries and cares on him and be sure that you are his child who always has a place in his Kingdom.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John14:1-4
