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

11 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, 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. 

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.

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:

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