my loveable, beautiful, not-normal sister

I need to preface this post by explaining that my little sister (who is almost 14) is NOT normal. I mean, she's the cutest thing ever, but as far as most normal teenage girls go? She's just not normal.

Examples:
- As a baby, she would take my little brother's cars that were scattered all over the place and line them up along the fireplace. Sometimes color coordinated.
- When she was little, she asked for notepads and pens for Christmas. Because she liked to make lists.
- When she was about ten, she decided that she needed a chore list, because she didn't really have one and needed to learn more responsibility. So she made her own. And it included actual chores like dusting her room and cleaning out the cats' litter box.
- She's always makes mostly straight A's. Occasionally, a B will sneak in there. And then she panics, gets weepy, and then spends the next quarter obsessing over that one subject... and then makes an A.
- She voluntarily does her own devotions at night. Takes notes and everything.
- She's not really boy crazy. She's had a crush or two, but definitely thinks boys are immature and dumb.
- She also isn't interested in pop culture icons. She got so sick of everyone talking about Miley and doesn't get how her friends become so obsessed with celebrities.
- Her goal is to become a veterinarian, and she's doing any and everything she can to get there. She plans on volunteering at a vet, just to get some experience.
- If she has a project due in two weeks, she starts immediately. And she won't hang out with friends that weekend, because she has to get started on it.
- My stepdad got up last Saturday morning to go to work. He saw the light on in my sister's playroom. He opened the door, and she's sitting at her desk doing homework. He sweetly said, "Baby, you don't have to do homework on a Saturday morning..." Her reply?: "Well, daddy, if I want to get ahead, this is what I need to do."
- She has her day planned to the minute on her fancy phone. At 5pm, she calls her best friend. At 7pm, she takes a shower. Yep, most girls her age are busy playing Angry Birds or staring at their Taylor Lautner background. My sister is setting her alarm to make sure she's in bed at the right time.

(fyi, none of this behavior is the consequence of my parents pushing her. They absolutely do NOT force her to do any of this. It's just who she is. They just got blessed with a dream child.)

So yeah. Just a little background info on my sister.

A couple of months ago, she decided she wanted to start a girls' Bible study (on a Friday night, bless her heart...). This past Friday was the very first meeting. She invited some of her close girlfriends. One of them brought one of her friends. Anyway, I'm supposed to be helping lead it, but I let Madison (my sister) take the reigns, just to see how she'd do. She handled most of it, and I would step in when I felt her starting to get nervous.
So here's what I learned.

#1. Getting thirteen year old girls to talk is like pulling teeth.
Think about it.
Most adults get together and have a TON of stuff to talk about... kids, marriage, divorce, parents, moving, our past, etc. But these girls? Nothing.
I mean, they probably have stuff to talk about, but at thirteen? Most girls are super self-conscious, especially if there are new people they've never met before around. And even more so if those new people are super cute.
I had them go around the room and introduce themselves. Then my sister tried some ice breaker type questions like "If you could be in a tv show for a day, which one would it be?". She didn't get much back. She said she now knows what teachers must feel like when kids don't answer their questions or participate at all.
She asked for prayer requests at the beginning, which lead to some awkward silence. Then one of her friends said her finger hurt. That was it.

Eventually things got better, and one girl piped up at the end and said she remembered something we could pray for. Apparently, some kid she was playing soccer with in her neighborhood fell and is on crutches now. And that brought on some other good ones.
Yep, totally taking prayer requests at the end next time.

#2. Thirteen year olds are incredibly hard to read. They smile their way through awkward moments, but are they smiling because this is totally lame or because they're enjoying themselves? I suddenly found my inner teenager wallowing in self-consciousness. Did they like me? Do they think I'm the "cool older sister"? Or do they think I'm a total loser for not having anything better to do on a Friday night? Was I helping my sister or ruining this for her?
And that lasted about 2 seconds, when I realized I was being ridiculous and who cared if they liked me or not. It's funny how quickly that stuff comes back though.
Turns out, they all told their parents they had a blast. And the new girl? She wants to come back next time, because it was so much fun.

#3. My little sister likes Justin Bieber.
She went with her BFF to see the movie a couple of weeks ago. I asked my mom if she was a big fan now, and she just replied with, "Oh you know Madison. She just went because S wanted to go..." Turns out, Justin Bieber came up the other night. And without even thinking, she quickly spouted out his birthday.
You would've thought that girl had said, "I eat grass" with the way we all looked at her.
And then her dad mentioned that he heard her listening to the Biebster in her room.
You have no idea how excited I am over this.
Because even though I adore my sister, all her perfectionist quirks included, hallelujah! the girl has a normal side too. Now I've got something I can give her for her birthday besides a new notebook... a Bieber cd! (Um... do they listen to cd's still? Or is it all digital? Oh geez, I'm getting old...)