Birthday Girl

So yesterday (01-16) was my first daughter's 17th birthday. Since there was no school for MLK, Jr. Day, she wanted to sleep in rather than do the traditional breakfast in bed.

Slightly off-topic, but did I tell you that this fall, she began taking four classes each morning at a neighboring school district? We did a lot of praying about it during the summer, and after the first week and a few tweaks here and there, we arrived at a compromise that was acceptable to everyone. After driving 15 miles, she picks up her best friend every morning and they go to school together. She was welcomed into a great group of Christian friends, got all A's her first semester, and overall we're pleased with the results. She still has some core classes at home in the afternoons, and I'm having to be flexible with her busy schedule.

She continues to drive 40 miles to the chiropractor to receive adjustments for her scoliosis. When we saw the first xrays of her spine back in June, I about cried and wondered if we'd ever get it straightened! She began going three times a week, then twice a week, once a week, and now she goes once every two weeks. Very often, she says her back hurts and wants someone to rub it for her. This makes me feel terrible! At Christmas time I began to doubt if the chiropractic-only course of treatment was actually working, and if her back was actually getting worse. Then I thought back to when I was a kid and had braces - it hurt to have them tightened, and I wondered if her back adjustments that were pushing her spine back in alignment were the source of her pain. Only one way to find out - another xray. At her age, the chiropractor was hesitant to xray more than once a year in order to prevent any damage to her ovaries, but she said she would. The good news is that the treatment is working! She called last week and said that after measuring the curvature of Brittany's spine, six months of care has decreased the upper curve from 34.5° to 19°! She asked if Britt was continuing to hang upside down twice a day on her inverse gravity machine, and I said no. Together we decided that she just needed the right motivation to keep up with that. I knew exactly what it was, as she asks for it often - a massage. So that's what she's working to earn. If she hangs twice a day and works up to 10 minutes each time and does. not. miss. one. single. time, we will treat her to a massage every other week. In our neck of the woods a 30-minute massage is $20, so it's well worth it!

Gosh - how did I get so side-tracked so quickly!? Sorry. Back to her birthday...

After biscuits and gravy at 10:00, she chose to catch up on some episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress" so I sat down to do my devotions. Since it was 01-16, I decided to look up chapter 1, verse 16 in different books of the Bible to see if I could find something meaningful for her. Here are some doozies that I found:

Proverbs 1:16 - Their feet run toward trouble and they hurry to commit murder.

Titus 1:16 - They say they know God, but their actions show they do not accept him. They are hateful people, they refuse to obey, and they are useless for doing anything good.

But here are some others, on a more positive note:

Ruth 1:16 - But Ruth said, "Don't beg me to leave you or to stop following you. Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.

Ephesians 1:16-17 - I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I remember you in my prayers and ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him.

1 Timothy 1:16 - But I was given mercy so that in me, the worst of all sinners, Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. His patience with me made me an example for those who would believe in him and have life forever.

James 1:16 - Do not be deceived, my dear friends!

1 Peter 1:16 - It is written in the Scriptures: "You must be holy, because I am holy."

It was fun to reveal my findings to her later on. Maybe one of them will be meaningful enough to her that she'll choose one for her life verse. Have any of you done a Bible search based on your birth date? If so, I'd be interested in hearing about your best and worst finds!

And to wrap up this badly-organized, "all over the place" birthday post, we headed to the city for some shopping and dinner before dropping her off at a surprise party in her honor. What fun! She is a really great girl, but is quickly growing into a young woman - and I feel so blessed to have her as a daughter!

Here's a photo of her, taken at her brother's wedding last June:

And this was taken after breakfast yesterday morning, after she'd finished her coffee (yes, she loves coffee!):