5 years old
(4 year blue chair picture ???)
3 years old
18 months old
10 months old
9 months old
6 months old
1 month old
Dear Josiah,
Happy birthday, my son!
You are a joyful, compassionate, energetic young man, and we are so delighted that you are part of our family. This has been a bit of a crazy season, with house hunting, putting our house on the market, the whirlwind of showings, and now preparing to move. In the midst of the busyness, you have been gracious, flexible, and ready for the new adventure.
Here are some of the significant
things in your life right now.
- You’ve begun a season of basketball, and you have natural giftings and plenty of enthusiasm for the sport. I have been praying for the Lord to give opportunities for building teamwork and endurance in your character, so this opportunity is a wonderful answer to prayer.
- This weekend you and Victor and
Dad get to go away for a Father-Son Retreat. You’re excited for the time, and I
am excited for how you are growing into a new season of life, maturity, and
responsibility. You still have lots of playfulness, imagination, and creativity
too, but it’s a joy to watch you grow as well.
- You have a sensitive heart for spiritual truths. When Dad reads the Bible with you kids, you have remarkably astute observations and connections to make. You have been getting up at 6:45am to read your Bible in the living room with Dad, and you have your own little prayer journal to record requests and answers to prayer. I’m so thankful for the evidences of grace in your life and pray that God will continue to draw you to taste and see that He is good.
- You are a loyal and fun friend, and
you invest deeply into those who are closest to you. You are sensitive to the
feelings of others and often take the role of a peacemaker with friends or
younger brothers. Not that you don’t sometimes have your own fiery will, but I
am thankful for the ways that you take into consideration the feelings of
others.
- You continue to be attentive and sweet to Jemima. She calls you, “Iah,” and you have a lot of fun together. You both love animals and books and being outside. More than once you have been the protective eye to see Jemima headed for the street and bringing her back from harm. You have told me multiple times that you would put yourself in harm’s way to keep Jemima safe. I love that reflection of Jesus’ self-sacrificial protection and care for His people.
- We have had some great school
growth together this year. We do Language Lessons together in the mornings, and
this semester added in a Fables writing course. I also get to teach your
literature class at homeschool co-op, and I love to hear the connections that
you see in the stories. You also really enjoyed doing a dramatic presentation
of some scenes from Dangerous Journey
re-set in a modern context. I love to watch your eyes light up when you are
excited and enjoying an activity!
- You have a generous, giving heart. On your birthday you pulled me aside to say that you really wanted to go to a store so you could buy gifts for your siblings! It is a joy to see the overflowing love of God in you.
These days have called for a lot of
stamina and endurance. Your schoolwork is a heavy load, and sometimes the
desire to just skip it and get to fun times with your siblings is a very strong
pull. But I pray that the struggle and difficulty and learning to persevere
will bear good fruit in your whole life walking with Christ.
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.—Romans 5:3-5
Hard times are never what we would choose. Come to think of it, school isn’t always what I would choose either! But God uses these trials and challenges to produce in our lives the beautiful fruit of a godly character and a secure hope in Christ. He loves us, and He is with us! Let’s press on in faith and energetically accomplish all that He gives us for each day’s work with the strength that He supplies, so that He will be honored and seen as our faithful Shepherd and King.
I love you, Josiah,
Your mom
Josiah (3.31.23) 9 years old
1. What is your favorite color? blue
2. What is your favorite fruit? apples
3. What is your favorite video to watch? Kung Fu Panda
4. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? hard-boiled eggs
5. What is your favorite thing to wear? new clothes
6. What is your favorite game? Ship of Treasure
7. What is your favorite snack? chocolate chip muffins
8. What is your favorite animal? peregrine falcon
9. What is your favorite song? Yankee Doodle
10. What is your favorite verse? Ephesians 6:10-20, I’ve just been kind of thinking about parts of that lately
11. What is your favorite book? Cleopatra in Space
12. Who is your best friend? Ezekiel
13. What is your favorite thing to do outside? run around and play
14. What is your favorite drink? Root beer
15. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cinnamon rolls
16. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? pancakes
17. What do you want to be when you grow up? an inventor
18. What was one of your favorite things that you did this year? go to Adventureland
19. Where is your favorite place to go? the zoo
20. Do you have a goal or something you’d like to work on this year? experimenting
21. Is there anything you hope will happen this year? move to a new house
22. What have you been reading in the Bible lately? about Solomon
23. Is there something you did for the first time last year? started playing basketball
