i just recently turned seventeen. the forever-memorable friend called sixteen slipped out the back door unheeded one night, and then i woke up the following morning to discover a new friend in its place: seventeen. 

as i test it on my tongue now, i like it... a lot. there is a certain maturity, and innocent whimsy to its sound; but i miss the innocent, child-like sound of sweet-sixteen. seventeen always struck as an in-between kind of age...not as young as sixteen; not as old nor heavy-sounding as eighteen. gone are the days of singing, "i am sixteen, going on seventeen." because, though i plan on keeping the remainder of the song intact, i'm no longer sixteen, and it sounds just as awkward as my thirteen-year old self singing it only four years ago... is that even possible? 

i suppose the only point to come by in this little note is simply, i blinked. the year changed, coming and going in what seemed a few blissful seconds. one year closer to adult-hood, and all the fancies that come with it. for the longest time, i just wanted to stay sixteen, and stop growing and getting older (even though i knew full-well the impossibilities of that wish). but here i am- past that, and i do want time to go on. i want to enjoy what G-d brings me as a seventeen-year-old young lady in this year. i want to get married, have children, and plan and decorate my little home with yellow curtains and kitchen bookshelves- which is one of my age-old fancies that i will never put away from my heart. 

this year, i want to have a gift for seeing beauty, like a brightly-colored sudden balloon, floating along beside me. 

i want to let my spirit shine... no, radiate. 

and i want to beam joy; as in, whenever i feel like dancing, the rest of the world wants to join in. i aspire to be wildly excited about each day simply because it's a brand new one, and new things always make me feel more than just a little hopeful. 

i hope- no i pray- to become a woman of valor..set apart..a reflection of the light my Jesus brings. 

dear seventeen~ i like you. let's hope you like me back.