Finley

I remember a couple years ago, when Finley was about 4 or 5, I was a little freaked out. I had ended up with a girl, who (at the time) only wanted to wear dresses and was really sensitive and I felt like I just didn't understand. In other words, she seemed to be nothing like me. I was kind of hoping that some one would come along side of me and explain her to me so that I could 'parent' her the right way... or something. But no one did, and I was just left to plead with God to give me a little insight.

A couple years later, I think I'm beginning to understand her a little better, but I really am beginning to  see who she is, and honestly, it blows me away.

Saturday was St. Patrick's day, and she went outside to look for four-leaf clovers. I have never been able to find a four-leaf clover. I don't know if it is my lack of patience, or what, but it is something that is extremely hard and frustrating for me. As is my habit, as Finley headed out the door, I warned her that it was hard and not to be too disappointed if she couldn't find any. It wasn't long before she came back in with one in her hand.

Chris said that he used to find them a lot, so I suggested they see who could find the first one Sunday morning. Right after breakfast, she took less than five minutes to find a 6-leaf. Later that day she found more 4s and a 5-leaf clover as well.

I don't know what it is about this girl, but she sees things that other people (like me) don't. And she is especially tuned to the beautiful, and can find it in places that other people don't bother to look.

 She made this flower arrangement for me a couple weeks ago. I loved that she used chicken feathers in the arrangement... Not your typical arrangement.

Last year, my brother and his wife bought Finley a birdhouse and weather-resistant paints to paint it with. After she was done painting it, she wanted me to put it outside, but for some reason never got around to it. A couple days ago, she started bugging me about it again. She wanted me to put it outside in a place where she could get to it to see inside of it. She wanted to be able to check to see if any birds were building a nest in it. Of course, I doubted that, with the wild paint job and the fact that it was not a 'real' birdhouse, birds would ever come near it. I (once again) cautioned Finley not to be too disappointed if the birds rejected her offering, citing the reasons why I thought they might not like it. But sensing the check in my spirit that said not to crush all her hopes, I told her that we needed to put it somewhere a bit harder to get to so that the cats would not bother it and the birds would feel safe. So yesterday, I mounted it to one of the fence posts while she was at school. She came home, thrilled, and insisted on putting some birdseed in the little 'yard' on the front of the house.

Today, I looked out the window, and about lost my jaw when I saw a little bird's face peeking out the hole.

 Here is the bird flying off, apparently to get more material for its nest.

Speaking of nests, that's another thing she has an eye for. She is always finding nests. She spots them tucked into the crevices of store-front signs, and plucks empty ones out of the brush around the farm. All the time.

And then there is her generosity. She is always giving people handfuls of wildflowers, pictures, nests she found, toys, cards she made...

Along with that is her caring spirit. Last 4th of July, her cousin, Laurel, burned her ankle. While her mom was running cold water over the burn, Finley was making her a get well card, talking to her, doing everything she could think of to help Laurel feel better. When she heard that our neighbor who had been fighting ALS wasn't going to last much longer, she wanted to go see him. And when Zivah hurt her hand last week, Finley sat next to her for a half an hour, holding an ice pack to her hand and 'taking care of her' while I was trying to get a few things done outside.

So although I might not 'get' Finley all the time,that's okay... She's pretty amazing.