Interesting

Many of you know Mamaw. She is my wonderful Grandmother who is among the most faithful of God's children on this earth. She is a prayer warrior who has loved me since forever. She is eighty four and had a bad fall almost two weeks ago. Nothing broken, but at eighty four it takes a while to recover from a good jarring of bones.

I was struck by the irony of bodies young and old tonight while watching Micah. I was giving him a bath and constantly telling him to sit back down. He loves to stand in the tub. When I tell him to sit down, he just plops right back down on his bottom and jumps to do it again. I thought about how he doesn't even seem to notice the impact on his little body. He is young and resiliant and designed to fall these days. When we get older, our bodies just aren't as ready to take a fall. I certainly do not like to think of Mamaw as older. Rationally, I know she is eighty four. In my heart, she's in her sixties.

All week, I have been praying for Mamaw to recover more quickly then she can imagine. I've been praying for her pain to ease and for her to get back home soon. She and Papaw have a sixty fifth wedding anniversary to celebrate on September 1st.

But tonight, in a God ordained moment, I have some extra words of prayer as well. While I was cleaning today, God carefully placed in my hands a card that Mamaw mailed me over three years ago. This is what she wrote:

"Dear Allison, Chris, and Natalie,
May God bless you with Everything that is good and wonderful, with daily strength and everlasting joys. And may He keep you safe and protect you. May He always smile upon you, and may His presence be your daily reward."

Tonight, Mamaw, I'm praying these words for you.
And I'm wondering for those of you reading this, if you'll say these words for Mamaw too?

Mamaw,
I love you so very much! Thanks for being you!

Number One Birthday.

Dear Micah,

What a difference one simple year makes. This time last year all seven pounds and eleven ounces of you laid in my arms swaddled in blue. Now you look like quite the little man running circles around the kitchen chasing your sister, our dogs, and sometimes, nothing at all. You just love to move.

You fooled us at first. You appeared so laid back and relaxed. You took everything in stride. Your Daddy and I used to tell people that we thought Natalie was a good baby, until we had you. You slept through the night almost instantly. You ate well. You just went along wherever we were going with no fussing at all. Then, somewhere around six months, you developed quite the stubborn streak. Today, you are much more stubborn then Natalie, for this reason, I'm really curious about this next year with you.

You don't like anything the first time it is offered. You have finally decided that food is okay. We are still trying to convince you that sippy cups are pretty cool too. You LOVED the cake tonight and had a blast tearing it apart. You have learned to use some sign language. You sign "eat", "more", and "milk". Your favorite is "more" which you sign constantly while eating Cheerios. You can say "bye bye" "da da" "mama" and "cocha" (meaning our dog Mocha, who is your favorite thing ever).

Speaking of favorite things, you follow Natalie EVERYWHERE. When she laughs, you laugh. When she cries, you cry. On several occasions, when she goes to time out, you go and sit beside her in the hall way. It's been fun to watch you two interact and love on each other.

You have spent this first year at work with Daddy. Pastor Logan, Ms. Laura, Uncle Robert, Aunt Joene, and several church people have helped us make this possible. As a result, you are a Daddy's Boy. You preach, waving your arms in the air and jabbering away. You love to dance and others love to watch you. You move your arms up and down and shake your little bottom in perfect time. You dance anytime you hear music and most always, you keep dancing till the music stops. You love to play catch with anyone who will throw the ball back to you. You will run across any room to get a ball. Your most favorite thing is to throw the ball on top of Mocha, maybe soon, you'll teach her to fetch.

You go to sleep every night between 7:30 and 8:00. Most of the time you now sit and read a couple of stories with Natalie. Then Daddy or Mommy sing you Jesus Love Me and lay you down for sleep. Although you are asleep you keep moving and spinning. Even in your dreams you are on the move.

You run hard, play hard, dance hard, snuggle hard, and laugh deeply and hard. My prayer for you is that you always finish tasks with the same persistence and determination you have shown us this first year of your life. I pray you Love God all the time and love others, even when it's hard. I pray you and Natalie always interact and love each other. I pray you grow up to be a man of integrity, easy to give and receive Grace and constantly moving forward in your relationship with the God who gave you to us.

I love you, I love you, I love you, Micah boy!!!

Forever, for always, no matter what...

Happy Birthday!