Rebecca Lynn Grew Up in Carolina
When I was pregnant back in 1995, that song came on the radio every hour I promise you. Brian White inspired us with our unborn daughter's middle name. I had known from the first time I ever heard the Goodman family's tragic story that I wanted to name my daughter after Rebecca Faith, the sister they had lost. But the middle name had us all hung up until we heard it in lyrics, then it all became quite clear.
My Rebecca Lynn came to us early one morning in a hospital room at Cape Fear Valley with the sun just peeking up over the trees. I took it as a sign. She has always been the sunrise for us, the promise of new and wonderful things. Joshua and I have needed to see her smiling face, framed by curls and accented by the most amazing dimples you've ever seen, on many occasions through life. They remind us that in the midst of dark times there is always beauty to be found.
BooBoo, as we like to call her, came to our family quickly and joined her brother in the first year of our marriage. You can say the four of us grew up together because we did. Learning to care for two little people and one big one really forced Joshua and I to grow up fast. The honeymoon was over before it started and there we were with two tiny persons who were looking to us to take care of them. And the two were complete opposites. Where Tony was clean, Rebecca liked to be messy. Tony was shy, Rebecca outgoing. It was like God gave us a miniature set of ourselves to watch over.
She has moved with us to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, all over Fayetteville, planting churches, attending every youth event possible, and basically gone along for the ride. Trips around the country, and around the world. Flying with her brother to visit her aunts in Texas and Colorado. Where her brother thrived in home school, Rebecca couldn't get enough of people and wanted to go to school. So we put her in public school and she excelled: Spelling Bee champ and Battle of the Books! Then there was the 6th grade where everything changed and we were quite sure our kid might never come back to us. Before we knew it she was in high school and the same girl who would fly back to us breathless to grab a belt so she wouldn't get in trouble at school was in ISS due to uniform infractions. Ironically the same dress code would work for her benefit where in 10th grade she did time for a black hoodie, her senior class had hoodies made that could be worn with the uniform the entire senior year. We bought one and she wore it out!
Aspirations to become an animator drive her forward towards the future that God has for her in the coming years of her life. It seems to me like only yesterday I was trying to tame her crazy curls into an appropriate hairstyle, and she goes out and colors those same curls magenta and turquoise today. Some things I really should learn.
Here's to the girl who teaches me more about myself everyday! Love you boo.
My Rebecca Lynn came to us early one morning in a hospital room at Cape Fear Valley with the sun just peeking up over the trees. I took it as a sign. She has always been the sunrise for us, the promise of new and wonderful things. Joshua and I have needed to see her smiling face, framed by curls and accented by the most amazing dimples you've ever seen, on many occasions through life. They remind us that in the midst of dark times there is always beauty to be found.
She has moved with us to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, all over Fayetteville, planting churches, attending every youth event possible, and basically gone along for the ride. Trips around the country, and around the world. Flying with her brother to visit her aunts in Texas and Colorado. Where her brother thrived in home school, Rebecca couldn't get enough of people and wanted to go to school. So we put her in public school and she excelled: Spelling Bee champ and Battle of the Books! Then there was the 6th grade where everything changed and we were quite sure our kid might never come back to us. Before we knew it she was in high school and the same girl who would fly back to us breathless to grab a belt so she wouldn't get in trouble at school was in ISS due to uniform infractions. Ironically the same dress code would work for her benefit where in 10th grade she did time for a black hoodie, her senior class had hoodies made that could be worn with the uniform the entire senior year. We bought one and she wore it out!
Aspirations to become an animator drive her forward towards the future that God has for her in the coming years of her life. It seems to me like only yesterday I was trying to tame her crazy curls into an appropriate hairstyle, and she goes out and colors those same curls magenta and turquoise today. Some things I really should learn.
Here's to the girl who teaches me more about myself everyday! Love you boo.
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