I hadn’t seen my little monkey, except for briefly on Sundays. Every time I saw her she’d say, “Pastor Susan, I miss you, and we need to talk. Can we go to Jamba or Starbucks this week?” So Wednesday, we spent the afternoon together.

I had to go to Costco and the office supply store, so we took a drive. The drive up she napped so there wasn’t much talking but when she woke up she was starving and full of things to talk about. We went to eat and her biggest delight was this milk shake with the cherry on top. “I like this place because the milk shakes come in this glass with a cherry on top. They don’t come in those little cups. This is a fun place. I’ve never been here before but I know I’m going to like it, because of the glass and the milk shake.” Six is still a funny age, and the things she had to say made me smile and laugh out loud.

“We need to bring Pastor Doug here. He would love this.” When I asked her if we should bring the kids with us she said, “No way, just the three of us!”

When shoe shopping: “Flats are baby shoes, I don’t wear flats. I wear heels, I’m six years old, you know.”
When seeing Jessica Simpson platforms, “Oh! Pastor Susan, do these come in size 12? These are beautiful!”

She wanted to tell me about a crush she had on a boy, “My rule is NO SCHOOL BOYS, ONLY CHURCH BOYS. You know that lady that is married to the drummer? They are like Angie’s cousins, or something like that?”
“NO! Not Iris, she’s not even in the band, silly, the woman that’s married to the drummer that’s not David the drummer, the other drummer!”
“Yes! Coco, his wife.”
“Yeah, yeah, Vikki, she told David about my crush on him, she said, ‘You have an admirer!’ How embarrassing she is! You know who Carmen likes? Well, she used to like Robert, but now they are cousins, or something like that, so she likes David too. Plus she likes the son of the lady with the three sons who have their hair kinda spiky, what’s their names?”
“Christopher, yeah him, I think. Angie pretends she doesn’t like anybody but she is just too shy to say who she likes, I know who she likes.”

“Did you know that when I’m 16, my dad is going to make me a car? A hot rod, with flames.”

“Turn the station to 1-1-5, that’s Disney, I’ll tell you if that’s right. Yes, Yes, that’s right, that’s the Jonas Brothers.”

“Wanna know what song I LOVE? OPEN UP THE SKY, POUR DOWN LIKE RAIN, WE DON’T WANT BLESSINGS WE WANT YOU, OPEN UP THE SKIES POUR DOWN LIKE FIRE, WE DON’T WANT ANYTHING BUT YOU.”

“Can you believe the dogs had puppies AGAIN? AGAIN, Pastor Susan, I couldn’t believe it, but they did.”

“Kids in my class kiss at recess. Can you believe it? Kindergarten, Pastor Susan, and they-are-kissing. I was going to tell the teacher that I saw them but…I forgot.”

“Remember when I used to like Corbin Bleu? I was little back then, now I like Justin Bieber. He’s 16. He drives you know, I saw him in a car.” “No! Not in our town! On TV of course!”

I love spending time with this girl. Her conversations surprise me. Sometimes, she is so deep and other times so funny. She was a typical girl though, she had a million things to say and she was never quiet. I don’t remember being this savvy at her age and I don’t think my daughter Casey was either, but it goes to show how kids are growing up these days. I’m over the top with this child and I can’t believe how fast it all goes. I remember holding her as a baby and playing ring-around-the rosies with her when she was two and now she’s six. Time flies. Jenesis is my practice for grandkids. If I love them 1/2 as much as I love her they will be blessed!