Elijah Birthday Letter, 2015

My dearest Elijah,

Unbelievable!  Today is the last day you will be twelve!  Part of me is so excited for tomorrow, while another part wants to hold on to today.

A teenager.  I remember the day you started kindergarten at age five, I thought, "Thank goodness I still have at least thirteen years with him before he might go away to college."  Now you ARE thirteen, and I see how quickly the time slips away.

You've changed so much this past year!  You're so much taller (finally taller than Grammy!) and your voice is so much deeper.  It still surprises me sometimes when you speak with the voice of an almost-man.

You're wiser than you were this time last year, too.  I love that each time I write one of these letters, I can see how God has grown you on the inside, too, and that you're more mature than you were last year.  That's the goal!

You're more independent now in so many ways, and though it makes me a little sad to keep letting go a little more, I know it's healthy and good.  You've done a great job this past year of working more independently on your school work, learning new things (including cooking--you're an amazing chef already!), holding and speaking to your baby cousin tenderly--yet balancing that with an appropriate amount of roughhousing, and taking more initiative to be helpful.

I love your sense of humor--you absolutely crack me up!

Your first Shoogie Award! lol

You have the ability and the resources to make a difference in this world as a teenager, in the ways that matter.  Your dad and I pray that you will make the most of your opportunities, and that the things we have taught you as a child will sink in and make sense and affect the choices you make as a teenager.

Happiest of Birthdays, love!
With much love,
Mom


Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.”

Proverbs 1:8-9 “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”

1 Timothy 5:1-2 “Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.”

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

2 Timothy 2:22-25  “Have no part at all in the wrong things that young men like to do. Believe. Have love. Follow what is right. Live at peace. Do these things along with others who have a clean heart and talk to God.  Keep out of foolish quarrels. You know that they start fights.The Lord’s servant must not fight. But he must be kind to all people. He must be a good teacher to them. He must be patient with them. When he corrects those who are against him, he must do it in a gentle way. It may be that God will turn their hearts to know what is true. ”

Micah 6:8 “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” 

That was then . . .

. . . this is now.