No Longer Four

My oldest daughter turned five last week! Hard to believe but also not at the same time. Our oldest very much lives up to the role of being "old". We used to joke that she wasn't four, she was fourteen :).
She is naturally very bossy, always trying to "help" and lead in every situation. My husband and I have always felt she is so mature for her age, so smart, frankly sometimes it scares us.
Five months back we had the opportunity for JJ to go to Vacation Bible School with her cousins who live an hour away. This meant she would be staying at my sister's house overnight ALL week! We prayed about it and realized she would love this more than anything. She was only four and we sent her off for an entire week! It was like we were already sending her off to camp!
She still has her Bible verses and some songs memorized and she still plays with the paper bag book that she made there, she DID love it!

It was hard for my husband and I not to have her with us all week, but we really feel like she is already so independent that it would only be a mistake on our part to hold her too tight. This is part of who God made her and He is only getting us ready to guide her properly for the rest of her life.
We are so blessed by our big five year old and are looking forward to the lessons we still have to learn together in the future. *Sigh* wasn't it just yesterday I held her for the first time?! ;)