By Chelsea Drown 
I didn’t realize becoming a teenager would be such a huge step in her life. Now, as we approach another year, I find myself looking back in awe.
The last year brought so much growth for my firstborn. I wonder if she even realized it. Her independence has flourished, and her desires continue to shift for the better. She still needs me, but more from the sidelines now. She looks for reassurance, guidance, and a steady presence rather than constant hands-on help.
It’s that tender stage where being “little” is still missed, yet growing up brings a new kind of excitement. This year held beautiful milestones—baptisms, learning to trust the process, and becoming more intentional with her time and the people she surrounds herself with.
Watching her navigate these changes has been nothing short of inspiring. I see her discovering who she is, embracing responsibility, and stepping into the young woman God is shaping her to become.
Motherhood changes in these years. The holding close slowly shifts into stepping back. The teaching turns into guiding. The protecting becomes praying a little harder and trusting God a little deeper.
And while my heart sometimes aches for the little girl she once was, it also swells with pride watching who she is becoming.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
by Whitney Fleming 
by Vicki Bahr 
