7 Years Old!

 7 years old!

 

6 years old

 

5 years old

(4 year blue chair picture ???)

3 years old

2 1/2 years old

2 years old

18 months old

1 year old

11 months old

10 months old

9 months old

 8 months old

7 months old

6 months old

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Josiah,

Happy 7th birthday! It is wonderful to celebrate another year of life and growth, and what a year it has been! We are marking the one-year point since COVID-19 interrupted life and plans in such a remarkable way. And as we look back over the year, we can also trace God's very strong and kind hand taking care of us and answering prayers.

This year has held different school plans, different church schedules, cancelled swimming lessons, missed gatherings, and modified expectations, but you have shown resilience and flexibility that are a great encouragement.

This year held some hard good-byes. We lost a baby last summer, and you demonstrated a tender and sensitive heart. We said good-bye to Grandma Vaupel in September, and more than once you have told me that you miss her, and we share a big hug and remember her together.

You also bubble over with joyful laughter and energy. You love jokes, goofy ideas, creative notions, and imagination. You love to play "super powers" with your brothers, and you come up with a very unusual array of supernatural abilities (i.e. I have a black panther head with tiger legs! I can transform into any 4-legged creature! I'm a baby leopard, but I'm very friendly!)

You are tender with your little brothers, and often Calvin will sit on your back or curl up next to you. ("Josiah is very cozy," Calvin tells me.)

You have grown so tall this year, and it is basically impossible to keep you in pants without holes in the knees. You are active with so much energy and stamina that it amazes me (especially contrasting my current low-ebb of energy...).

You've been doing a great job on your school work. Even though it can be hard to focus, you use a timer to work hard for 5-minutes, and then take a break to do some push-ups and get back to it! I'm very proud of your developing ability to persevere through hard work and do your best on a project. You've come a long way in reading and math, and you enjoy looking through our chemistry books or maps. I love your great curiosity.

You are a generous and thoughtful boy as well. For your birthday, you decided you wanted to buy everyone else in the family a gift to say thank you for celebrating your birthday! And you give consideration to the kinds of things each individual would enjoy. Today you even let your brothers paint alongside you some of the new wooden cars you got as a gift. I love your open-handed spirit and pray that you will always be so amazed at the Lord's great generosity to you in Christ that you are free to share and give to others!

You have blessed my heart through this pregnancy with reminders on several occasions that you almost always pray for me at night when you're going to bed. And when you can tell I'm having a hard time or not feeling well, you often come up to give me a gentle hug just to show you care.

In Bible study we are looking at the Psalms, and one of the verses in Psalm 90, where we're studying this week is a favorite prayer:

Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14)

The great delight of Christianity is that we aren't doing what God says, miserably denying ourselves, so that somehow we can earn God's favor. Quite the opposite! God has chosen to put His great love on us because of Jesus, and now we receive His steadfast love day after day, and pursue our greatest joy and happiness by knowing and walking close to Him. This is the path of real delight! This is the way of true and enduring life! I pray that even when dark and hard days come, you will have this sustaining hope and joy of being covered by God's steadfast love, which one day we will receive in a full and overflowing way when we enjoy being with Him forever!

I love you, sweet Joe, and I pray this year is the best yet for knowing and walking with Jesus!

Momma

Josiah (3.31.21) 7 years old

1.       What is your favorite color? black

2.       What is your favorite toy? my bear

3.       What is your favorite fruit? apples

4.       What is your favorite video to watch? Wild Kratts

5.       What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? macaroni and cheese

6.       What is your favorite thing to wear? shorts and a t-shirt

7.       What is your favorite game? Spot It

8.       What is your favorite snack? goldfish

9.       What is your favorite animal? black panther

10.   What is your favorite song? Away in a Manger

11.   What is your favorite verse? Jesus wept

12.   What is your favorite book? my blue animal book

13.   Who is your best friend? Benaiah and Charis

14.   What is your favorite thing to do outside? going barefeet

15.   What is your favorite drink? Root beer

16.   What do you like to sleep with at night? bear

17.   What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cinnamon rolls

18.   What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Mom’s pizza

19.   What do you want to be when you grow up? a zoologist

20.   What was one of your favorite things that you did this year? visiting the nature center in North Carolina

21.   Where is your favorite place to go? to Grandma Kay’s house