Dear Jemima,
These days, you are acting more and more like a big kid.
- You crawl! Actually, it's the sweetest little shuffle, shuffle, shuffle I have ever seen. But it gets you where you want to go!
- You have an incredibly keen eye for all the tiny things. Which you then grab in your precise little pincher grip so that you can eat them (i.e. gag yourself on them and puke on the carpet). #trouble
- You've begun pulling yourself to the edge of your crib with both little fists on the railing. In about two seconds, you'll be standing up, ready to throw a leg over the side and let yourself out. But for now, you're just taking in the view (and chewing on the railing a bit).
- You do very well on your cereal + veggies. I feed you a bowl 0-3 times a day, depending on the chaos of the given meal.
- You had a roaring cold for over a week. It was very sad to lose your happy smile, peaceful sleep, and serene countenance, but it makes us even gladder to see it return!
- Your teeth are getting bigger and bigger. I'm pretty sure you have some back teeth too, but I haven't fished around to find out exactly how many. It's dangerous in there.
- You're in 9-12 month clothes. P.S. I love your sweet chubs.
This weekend I was studying in Exodus 31, where the LORD told Moses to speak to all the people of Israel and say, 'Above all, you shall keep My Sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you" (Exodus 31:13).
Sabbath. Stop your work on the 7th day. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death.
Does this seem a little extreme? Surely a "day off" is not such a big deal that it calls for the death penalty?
But picture our Redeemer, speaking to His newly-freed people, saying:
On pain of death, do not return to ceaseless work. You forgetful people, do not slip back into your mindset as slaves who endlessly grind away, as though the burden lies on you to produce something, to earn God's favor. No more. You have been freed to rest. You belong to a new Master, One who is so generous and wise that He gives to His people sleep and every good gift.
Isn't this a lovely foreshadowing of salvation? Your covenant God calls you to rest, for He has done the greatest work on your behalf. Once a week, practice being still, because you have already been redeemed. You have a God who rescues, sets apart, adopts, transforms, and fills.
The Pharisees turned Sabbath into just the opposite. Instead of resting, they made it a new kind of "work" (Walk only so many steps! Don't lift such-and-such a weight! Don't make mud by spitting into the dirt and applying it to a man's eyes for his healing! Keep the rules, or else!)
But Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, revealed the heart of God. He, the Worker on behalf of His people, would ceaselessly love, would keep the Law perfectly, and would pay the debt on behalf of sin's slaves so that His people could enter His eternal rest.
What a joy to belong to such a kind King and Lord. I pray that you find a heart of rest in Him, even on days that are crazy, intense, chaotic, perhaps even exhausting. May Jesus refresh your heart, enable your happy obedience, and give true peace because His perfect record covers our failures and sins.
How I love you, sweet Jem Jem,
Momma
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