Dear Sydney,

Hooray!!! You are turning twelve today!  Oh my goodness.  Babu and I can’t believe you are almost a teenager.  As we look back over the years, we have so many precious memories of watching you grow up.  I remember getting the call from your mom letting us know you were going to arrive earlier than planned and even though I was still in Kenya at the time, the Lord answered my prayer and I was able to book a flight to the States that left the next day.  I arrived at the Seattle, Washington airport before noon and a friend of Mimi picked me up and drove me straight to the hospital.  I arrived about forty-five minutes after you were born at 1:34 in the afternoon on May 27, 2003 and saw you for the first time through the window of the nursery. Your daddy was so excited as he held you up so I could see you.  You were absolutely adorable.  In fact, I was able to see you even before your mom did.  Pretty amazing timing!! You weighed six pounds, fourteen ounces and were eighteen inches long and you also had such beautiful light brown hair. I was so excited because you were our first grandchild.  So special!! Babu was finally able to arrive on June 6^th and I could tell he was overjoyed because he was smiling from ear to ear.

The next time we saw you was when you and your mom came to visit us at Nan and Baa’s house in Wellston, Ohio. At seven months of age, we couldn’t believe how chubby you had become in such a short time.  What’s amazing is how you could sit and watch an entire 45 minute Baby Einstein video without even blinking.  You would sit and stare as if you were scrutinizing every detail and would suddenly break into claps and smiles.

The other amazing thing was how limber you were.  You loved to lay on your back and clap your feet together and then spread your legs out so straight that it looked like you were doing a total split.  Little did we know you were practicing to become a ballerina some day.  Now you have excelled and in a few months you will be using pointe shoes.  We have been so blessed to even see you perform in some of your recitals. You are truly gifted.

You probably don’t remember the Hubbard/Long family reunion in Wilmington, North Carolina the summer of 2004.  You were only about 13 months old when you met your only cousins James and Megan for the first time.  Last summer in 2014, when we lined all the cousins up on the beach for a picture, there were eleven of you. However, there were seven other cousins missing from the picture.  Wow!  Just think, you are the oldest cousin of them all.

I remember when you and your mom visited Auntie Jen in Savannah, Georgia and met the lady named Lee Anne who gave you the stuffed doggie named Gracie.  Who would have ever dreamed how special that little stuffed animal would become.  I think you still take her everywhere you go and she sleeps with you every night.

One thing we noticed about you growing up was your compassion and tender heart for hurting people.  We remember when you started putting money aside for a mission’s project to buy a goat for a village in Ethiopia and even gave away a whole bag of crayons that I was able to give to two little boys here in South Africa.  I was also amazed to find out that you decided to cut your long beautiful hair so you could donate it to an organization that made wigs for children who lost their hair due to chemo therapy.

We were so proud of you when you completed all the requirements to be an Honor Star. Your love for Jesus and your passion for life tells us that God has a very special plan for your life.  When we look at the different women in the Bible, the one you remind us of is Esther.  God made her especially beautiful  and full of grace because He was planning to raise her up to be the Queen of Persia some day. She was a woman of beauty, integrity and virtue and because of her strong will, she was brave enough to risk her life for the sake of her people, the Israelites.  When we looked all the effort that went into preparing her for the day when she was presented to King, we thought of all your training—In school, in Missionettes, and even ballet, as your preparation for the future calling that God has ordained for you.  We believe God will use you in a powerful way as you continue to commit yourself to loving and serving Jesus all the days of your life.