11 years old!
10 years old
(and another graduate from the Blue Chair Club)
9 years old
8 years old
7 years old
6 years old
5 years old
(4 year blue chair picture ???)
3 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
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, happy birthday! Celebrating eleven years of your life is a pleasure, and you are a joy in our home!
As we near the end of your 5th grade year, I see much growth in you. You're reading and assimilating lots of history knowledge, gaining much confidence in the more complex processes of your math, finding the words flow quite easily in writing, and enjoying lots of creative expression in art. We have been going through the same Grammar & Composition book that I used in middle school, which gives me a combination of nostalgia and satisfaction. Your workload took a major step up this year, and I'm really proud and thankful for how you have risen to the challenge, even though it makes for some long days of study.
It's been fun to watch you grow in interest in basketball, upgrade to a newer, bigger mountain bike, and generally eat your body weight at supper. You are big enough to wrangle with Victor, and you have an encyclopedia of animal knowledge packed away in your mind.
It's been fun to watch you grow in interest in basketball, upgrade to a newer, bigger mountain bike, and generally eat your body weight at supper. You are big enough to wrangle with Victor, and you have an encyclopedia of animal knowledge packed away in your mind.
Even though you're super physical and active, I also love to see you curled up on the couch with a Redwall book, a Tintin comic, or some volume of animal information. (And you are not impressed by animal books that start off with "50 million years ago, this creature evolved from...") Sometimes it's a whole cluster of you kids crowding around a Garfield book or car encyclopedia.
You began taking piano lessons last summer and played in two recitals, and this year you are also continuing in children's choir at church. You love to plunk around and improvise with music, and your piano teacher has told me she thinks you have a bit of a musical gift. I hope you'll continue to develop and grow those artistic skills for years ahead.
I see you being a good friend to others, enjoying lots of activities and imaginative games. It's also been fun to see some growing interest in board games, since Victor is always thrilled to have someone willing to take on a game of Risk or Tenpenny Parks or Cover Your Assets with him. You're quick to climb trees, dig in the dirt, and generally explore all the created world around you.
You began taking piano lessons last summer and played in two recitals, and this year you are also continuing in children's choir at church. You love to plunk around and improvise with music, and your piano teacher has told me she thinks you have a bit of a musical gift. I hope you'll continue to develop and grow those artistic skills for years ahead.
I see you being a good friend to others, enjoying lots of activities and imaginative games. It's also been fun to see some growing interest in board games, since Victor is always thrilled to have someone willing to take on a game of Risk or Tenpenny Parks or Cover Your Assets with him. You're quick to climb trees, dig in the dirt, and generally explore all the created world around you.
I also love to see how you are gaining in leadership skills. When you are the biggest kid at home, you are very kind and patient with your younger siblings. You are a willing helper, holding doors, hauling potting soil, vacuuming, and helping Jemima tidy her room.
I love your big belly laugh, your twinkling eyes, and your ready wit. You are an enthusiastic sharer of riddles and puns, and you always enjoy a good story. You also have a curious and active mind, ready to explore and investigate.
You are bearing fruit in your heart as well, beginning your day with time in the Bible and praying for friends that you think may still need to put their faith in Jesus. May the Lord continue to grow in you a relationship of abiding and trust in God and love for others.
This spring I've been studying the first half of Romans, and the last few weeks have given me such an encouraging reminder of one great fruit of the gospel in our lives: freedom from sin's slavery. Our memory verses last week were these:
This spring I've been studying the first half of Romans, and the last few weeks have given me such an encouraging reminder of one great fruit of the gospel in our lives: freedom from sin's slavery. Our memory verses last week were these:
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:22-23).
What an exchange, to go from the slave of sin ... that leads to death and condemnation, to become slaves of "righteousness leading to sanctification" (Romans 6:19). We have a new power at work in our hearts, giving us growth (sometimes slow!) in reflecting Jesus. We have a new desire in our lives, to love God and His ways. And we have a new destination, eternal life and joy in God's own presence. Nothing could outweigh those amazing gifts, bought for us by Jesus' death in our place!
I pray that you grow more and more aware of God's nearness, His Spirit, and the certainty of His promises. He is the one we were always made to belong to!
I love you so much and I'm so thankful for the young man you're growing into!
Mom
