My Dearest Tori,
This has been a different and difficult year. You have had to face some things as an eight year old that I am struggling to understand as a thirty-three year old. Yet you continue to amaze me with your beauty- inside and out. Today on your 9th birthday, instead of a clever story or summary of your year, I offer a prayer for you in loving memory of your Aunt Penny. I am saddened your time with her was so short. You cannot fully understand the amazing, godly example you were given in her, but I pray you come to see her legacy more and more as God grows you day by day.

I pray you will always greet whomever you meet with a smile.

I pray others will feel instantly comfortable around you and be able to share their heart, knowing you genuinely care.

I pray you will never seek the treasures of this earth yet always be generous with the treasure God gives you.

I pray you will pursue God's plan for your life, wherever it takes you, near or far.

I pray you will use all the gifts and abilities God has given you to love Him and love people.

I pray, as beautiful as you are on the outside, that you will pursue the true beauty of a godly character.

And finally I pray you will always affirm the faithfulness and goodness of God, despite the most difficult of circumstances. And that just as your Aunt Penny your faithful life would lead many to a deeper knowledge of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Dear Father, I commit Tori to you and I thank you for the past 9 years of her life. I don't take one day for granted--even on those days she is exceptionally sassy.

I love you Tori! Happy Birthday!