12 Years Old!

12 years old!

 

 

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

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 birthday, my son! Every year of life is significant, but right now you are really in such a cool period of growth and change. It's pretty amazing to watch.

You made the leap into middle school this year, which is totally great! Dad loves it that you and Victor ride home with him later on Wednesday nights and get to read through a book together and talk about big things. You've had a great time at the retreats, special events, and ongoing classes so far, and you took home a prize for a pretty epic Reformation costume at the Progressive Dinner in December! I love hearing how your group is wrestling to understand the text as you do Swedish Bible study in class and really stretching to understand God's word for yourselves.

You are carrying a hefty load in your 6th grade classes, adding in some Latin this year with your other studies. I get to teach your Writing class at co-op, and I love getting to be in the classroom with you and seeing your creative, energetic, inquisitive mind in action there. There is no doubt that your homework can really stretch you, and we talk a lot about loving the Lord with all your mind, working heartily for the Lord and not for people, and pushing yourself to do those "mental push-ups" that mean you're gaining strength in your powers of thought. May the Lord continue to give you earnest, faithful, diligent energy in the studies He entrusts to you!

You are definitely growing in physical strength and size as well. You just bumped up to a men's size 9 in shoes (one size lower than Dad, for now...), and you have speed, reflexes, and climbing ability. This makes you a natural choice to climb the tree outside the kitchen window to refill the bird feeder, among other things! I'm also thankful that your fun-loving and creative personality still expresses lots of exuberance, ingenuity, and joy in the world of play.

You've enjoyed the privacy and solitude that come in having your own basement bedroom (next to Victor's). It's also fun to see it take on your own personal flair, with a Lego praying mantis in one of your houseplants, a hanging chair to relax in, and and some cool palm prints that make it feel like a taste of the rainforest. You have a fascination with animals and nature that I pray will deepen your wonder at God's creativity, design, and power. 

You're delving into some new interests in board games, adventure movies (Dad is watching Captain America with you and Victor right now), and escape rooms. It's been fun for the whole family to explore some mental gymnastics with the escape room games lately!

You're continuing to practice and grow in your piano skills, and even though you always feel the jitters before a recital, I think it's a great skill that you are gaining some poise and composure when you have an opportunity to perform in front of other people. May the Lord use those skills not only for your own enrichment and pleasure but also as a platform for pointing others to Him.

It has been such an encouragement to see you take the challenge of a middle school Bible reading plan and really own the opportunity to start each day with time in the Word and prayer. There is no more life-giving and essential pattern that I could pray for you to gain! May the Lord feed your soul on His truth and draw you ever closer to Him through those good rhythms!

You really bring a lot of joy to our home with your creative play with your brothers, gentle spirit with Jemima, your ready laugh, your enjoyment of jokes and fun, and your easy-going attitude. I'm so thankful you're in our family!

This spring in women's Bible study we have been studying 1 and 2 Samuel, and the lesson that stands out so starkly in the life of David is that there is nothing to fear but turning your eyes away from the Lord. Saul's jealousy, the Philistine's giant, the whole armies of foreign nations, none of that posed true danger for David when he walked close to the Lord and sought his face step by step. But what a fall he had when he turned to self-indulgence and the desires of the flesh.

I pray that the Lord will so catch your ear and fill your heart that the enemy will have no foothold to draw you away from the light. 

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

I pray that you will be increasingly awed, humbled, and flooded with joy at the staggering love of God poured out on you! 

Love you so much!
Mom