It's a.....

My teenager went off to epic camp today. I've walked past her room several times, peeked in and smiled. It's different having your sister live with you but feeling such motherly feelings. I am not her mother. We have that. I just know this kid is amazing and different and I get the privilege of guiding her these next two years through high school.

I've also been trying to write this blog post for a week. It's a good way to get things "out in the air." I know Grace and I have talked about this post and she was excited to hear that I would write it. She wanted me to write out a few things from her heart too.

Grace has come to stay with me since she was 10 during the summers. At first it started as a week and than two weeks and than before I knew it she would stay the entire summer. Having her and my other sister Mary-Ann here was always really fun. Even though we live only five hours apart I was always so busy with work, school or children to barely get home to see them through the year. Having them here in the summer was a quiet reminder that we would have time together and our bond would be secure.

The idea of her moving in with me has kind of always been there. Grace and I have a special bond; we do share a birthday (10 years apart). She and I had a conversation when she was in elementary school about her coming to live with me and I had "promised" her that if she wanted to come she could.

When the idea of her moving up here came up I was instantly excited. I knew that she would love it here. It's a bigger city (she's like me and loves the city) and she has a bit of roots here since she's been coming here so often since she was 10. We began to pray about it and knew that she was meant to come here. We kept it very quiet. Not because we weren't excited but because we knew people would think we were "crazy" and we did not want fleshly opinions to hinder us from doing what God wanted.

So she moved here. You are probably wondering why? A lot of people have asked me why. A lot of people have assumed they knew why. So lets clear things up.

Grace did not move here because she's a bad teenager. In fact, not to brag, but my teenager is probably one of the most amazing teens I've ever met. She's so thoughtful, kind, and compassionate. She's the most grateful teenager I've ever met. She never asks for anything above the essentials and is always thankful and says thank you when we buy her something that is more of a pleasure than a need. Not to mention this girl is brilliant. She always gets straight A's and is in honor classes at school. She is self-motivated and strong.

Grace did not move her because her parents don't love her. For those who may not know we have the same mother but different fathers. She was living with her father when we approached him on her moving up here. Her moving here is not because he or my mom doesn't love her. It's because it's what God wants. Sometimes you don't always have to understand, you just have to move your feet and go.

Grace knows that she is called by God for something extremely great. She wants to walk the road that God leads to bring here there and a move to Charlotte was apart of that path. She loves it here. Has great support from all her family and is very happy.

I love that I get to see this teenager grow. I miss her when she's gone. She makes me want to be better; do better, be more responsible. She's beautiful, beyond beautiful, and so talented at anything she puts her heart into.

Welcome to the Martino Family Grace. We love you so, so, so much.