Julia, On Her 9th Birthday

Being Julia's birthday, I thought I'd write up a little brag post on this incredible child of mine.

Julia is brilliant.  She soaks up knowledge like a sponge.  I've decided to just ask her if I don't know something.  More than half the time, she knows it.  Especially if it's in a book she once read. 

Julia is a reader.  Any spare moment she has, she is reading.  She reads when she eats breakfast.  She reads when she comes home from school.  She reads while waiting for her turn in the bathroom.  She reads IN the bathroom.  She reads before she goes to sleep.  She reads in the car.  She reads, and reads, and reads.  And she loves it.  (In a related note, we are always accepting new book recommendations.) (On another related note, thank goodness for the public library and those wonderful, well-read librarians.)

Julia has taken to the violin like you wouldn't believe.  After 2 weeks, she told me she was going to be an orchestra nerd.  We never have battles about practicing, only reminders.  She told me the other day that she loves to play because 1) she is good at it, and 2) it calms her down.  I completely understand these feelings.  It fills my soul to hear that she loves music, too.  She has started a composition unit, and showed me the beginnings of her first composition.  (It looks great, by the way.)  I decided to test it out on the organ, to see how it sounded.  5 minutes later, I realize someone is playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on the organ.  It was Julia.  "When did you learn to play a keyboard?" "Oh, I'm just messing around."  She had pulled out her violin music and was full on playing a song.  Obviously she was meant to be a musician.

Julia always wants to learn new things.  A few weeks ago I asked her if she had anything she wanted to learn at Activity Days (church group for 8-11-year-olds).  She thinks for a minute, then her whole face lights up and she says, "Glass blowing!"  I love that she knows what glass blowing is (of course she does, she read about it in a book), and that she wants to learn how to do it.  If she was running the show, A Days would be fascinating.

Julia's knowledge of the scriptures and the doctrines contained therein is astounding.  She fully and completely understands the plan of salvation and how repentance works.  She knows without question that God loves her and that He has a plan for all of us.  This is one of my favorite things about her.  She just GETS it.  I love to hear her talk about what she has been reading in the scriptures or what her primary class is learning about, and to answer her questions about the gospel.  She decided to bear her testimony a couple weeks ago about how important it is to do the small and simple things that God has asked us to do.  Keeping the commandments isn't always easy, but it's simple, she said.  This marks the third time she has gotten up in front of the entire congregation to bear her testimony.  I think that is more times than I have done it since living here. 

Basically, Julia is amazing.  I often look at her and wonder where on earth she came from.  She is wise for her 9 years.  I love her sharp mind and her tender heart, and I can't wait to see the good she accomplishes in the world.