When Traditions are Born

Recently we celebrated what seems to me an epic day in our home--our twins turned 15. Really. It seems like just yesterday they were wee little ones, bundled up safe and snug, as we--the very excited and extremely nervous new parents--left the hospital to begin our parenthood adventure. Boy, in those early days with little babes, the days were long, but the years were oh so short.

Birthday celebrations are fun, aren't they? In our family, we tend to do things a tad bit differently since we don't often host big birthday parties for the birthday girl or boy. Our birthday traditions always include a family birthday celebration and then we let the birthday child decide what he or she would like to do--a special activity/event or a birthday party with friends. Each child has made different decisions over the years with many fond memories, and we look forward to many more fun birthday celebrations to come!

With my oldest daughter's love of contemporary christian music, we've stumbled in to a birthday tradition that fits her just right. We didn't set out to start a new tradition, it just sort of happened over  the last several years. And it seems to make perfect sense now that I look back on her last several birthdays.

For her 12th birthday, her most favorite artist at the time,  Francesca Battistelli, was in concert with Brandon Heath and Leeland in San Antonio. She quickly decided that was what she wanted to do for her birthday--her very first concert as part of her 12th birthday celebration. So that's what we did--a Mom and Daughter night out. Oh, I have wonderful memories from that special night! Grace took tons of pictures of the concert with her little red camera (this is right around the time her interest in photography started taking shape), and we had loads of fun together. After the concert, we hung around so she could meet the artists, let them know how much she appreciates their music, have them sign her posters, and capture pictures with them. Here, let me share a picture...

Oh, right. At just the moment Grace met Francesca after the show for autographs and pictures, the batteries in her little red camera died, and the thought to pack extra batteries never crossed my mind. Mom fail. Thankfully, Grace was a good sport about it, and it's part of our "remember when mom ..." funny stories that we laugh about today. 

Adding to the priceless memories of that first concert with Grace was the opportunity to sponsor a child through Food for the Hungry. The bands that participated that night shared about child sponsorship, and we were deeply moved. Grace chose a child for our family to sponsor, and we've been a FH child sponsor ever since. It's been an amazing experience for us as the first child we sponsored recently 'graduated' from the program. That is, the village she lives in, through the work with FH, has become self sufficient! (Boo picked our family's next sponsor child through FH.)

For Grace's 13th birthday, Third Day was in concert in Austin around the same time. She opted for this concert as her special birthday event since it involved a Mom and Daughter overnight in Austin. I learned my lesson and made sure to pack extra batteries for Grace's camera. :) We enjoyed a day sightseeing around Austin, and an awesome concert that night--with pictures to prove Grace met the band (thanks to a very special friend!):

By Grace's 14th birthday, it was clear she's a gifted and talented photographer and it was time to invest in a DSLR camera for her.   Given that investment, we didn't expect a concert that season. However, around that time, JJ Heller offered a concert in a town near us--Uvalde--at a historic community theater with extremely reasonable ticket prices. With such reasonable ticket prices, the 3 of us girls--Mom, Grace, and Boo--could all go for a girls night out. What fun! Grace snapped tons of pictures with her new (at the time) camera and all its complicated (to me) settings. Alas, when it was my responsibility to handle the camera to capture a picture of the girls meeting JJ and Dave Heller after the concert, well...Mom fail again. My DSLR picture-taking attempts did not turn out. at. all.

Fast forward to this year, Grace's 15th birthday. A week after her birthday, Tenth Avenue North, Audrey Assad, and Rend Collective Experiment were in concert in San Antonio--at the very same church where Grace and I went for her 12th birthday concert. How sweet for us, and another fun and priceless Mom and Daughter time. 

Grace is such a talented photographer, and she knows Lucy (her beloved DSLR camera) inside and out. Me? This year I know how to use a camera phone, and I managed to not mess up the after-concert picture:

Grace with Irish band Rend Collective Experiment.

I treasure these fun times with my oldest girl. I'm very thankful one thing led to another and and a new birthday tradition was born that fits this music-loving, picture-taking, amazing daughter so well. Yet one of the things that stands out to me most about her 15th birthday concert was when she responded on her own  to sponsor a child through Compassion as Tenth Avenue North band members shared about the need and opportunity.  Grace is sponsoring a child, funding her sponsorship through her blog design and photography businesses. Wow. More often than not, I learn more from my children than I think they ever do from me, know what I mean?

This parenthood adventure has been filled with many, many treasured moments and memories, and I'm so very thankful to God for the privilege to be Momma to these four incredible children--what a blessing! 


--Laura