“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers….For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”  Psalm 1:1-3, 6 “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”  Isaiah 61:3b “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener … every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you … I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers … If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”  John 15:1-3, 5-7  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us from sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:9  “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption”. 1 Corinthians 1:30

Oh Noah, what a dynamic little person you are growing into!  You are our rough yet sweet, grunting yet articulate, loving little comedian.

You still love your big sister, and she still loves you.  On a walk the other day, when Jubilee dropped her mitten, you ran back to pick it up for her as fast as you could.  And when she gave you a hug in thanks, you grabbed her back, gave her a kiss and said, “I wove you.  Jubiwee is my best fwiend.”  Watching the two of you like that just melts my heart.  I pray that you are always there for one another, to hold each other up and encourage each other.  To challenge each other to be better and to take care of each other.

Of course, the two of you have your moments.  While sweet, you’re nobody’s wallflower and you will not allow your sister to walk all over you.  I am so glad you have this character trait, although at times, I am not so glad that the two of you are screaming at each other and hitting each other.  Life’s about balance, and I’m trying to help you find that in your relationship with your best friend.

Your favorite things are construction equipment and firefighting equipment.  Cranes, bulldozers, dump trucks, tractors, excavators, skid steer loaders and firetrucks…these things delight you and you can play for quite some time with these types of toys.

You have become our class clown.  You just love to get a laugh and you love to laugh.  The other day, I was explaining to Jubilee what different types of animals are classified based on what they eat.  “An animal that eats only meat is called a carnivore.  An animal that eats only vegetables is called a herbivore.  An animal that eats both meat and vegetables is called an omnivore. What kind of animal are you?”  To which you replied, completely unexpectedly, “I’M A CHICKEN!”  And now, throughout your day, unexpectly, and unbidden, you will exclaim, “I’M A CHICKEN!”  And laugh and laugh.

You’re still my little cuddle bug and, unlike your sister, your personality is quite a bit different than mine.  I watch the two of you pick up your toys and I see you doing quite a bit of lallygagging while Jubilee determinedly picks up everything she can’t bear to have put up.  I wonder if, as you grow, you will struggle with even having the desire to set goals — will we have to poke and prod you to work hard?  We’ll see.

I pray that God will continue to cultivate your sweet, loving spirit.  He has given you a tender and caring heart, and I pray that He will continue to prune you and your gifts, skills and person into the man He has called you to be.  I desire for you to be a towering oak of righteousness, planted right where the Lord puts you, abiding in Him, obeying Him and adopting His righteousness as your own.  Follow Him, my little man, and you can do all things.

xoxo

Momma

Noah, you turned two several days ago.  I’ve been contemplating what to write you for your yearly letter, and there is so much that I could fill a book!  This year you went from taking your first, wobbly steps to sprinting up and down halls in your new tennis shoes.  You went from me having to carry you up the play equipment at the parks to confidently climbing up the slides and going down all by yourself.  You went from not sleeping through the night to sleeping through the night without any problems.

You went from a baby to a boy. 

And, did I mention, you’re also using the toilet?

But, that’s all what you did, and while it’s important, it’s not who you are…what peaks we’ve seen of your personality so far.  This is what’s most important, and what I hope to memorialize.

You have a real sweetness to your character, a love of others.  I hope, as you grow up as a boy in America, that you don’t let the world change this soft love in your heart toward others.  I see this in your interactions with your sister.  There are times that Jubilee bonks herself and gets downright upset, crying and carrying on.  If you were not there to see what happened to Jubilee, you will turn to me and, with a concerned look on your face say, “Jubee cwying….”  You’re always there to volunteer a kiss or a hug to your sister if she’s upset.

You’re not one to often turn down the offer of a hug, or be stingy with kisses and cuddles!

But that’s not to say you’re a push-over.  No, not by any stretch of the imagination.  I vividly remember one morning this early fall, you were probably 19 months or so.  I was in the bathroom and you and Jubilee were out playing in the living room.  There was an altercation, I heard you scream, indignant, and then I heard Jubilee begin to wail.  She ran into the bathroom, holding her cheek: “Noah bit me!”

“Yes,”  I responded, “but what did you do to Noah?” 

“Took his toy…”

I am glad that you already seem to have a good balance of sweet love and understanding and strength to stand up for yourself, and what is right. 

Currently, you are our little mimic.  You say anything your sister does, particularly if it’s something I’m not real crazy about.  And, you copy just about anything your sister does.  Although this can be somewhat frustrating, it can also be sweet and good.

We always realized that you looked up to your sister and strive to say and do the things she does, but we didn’t realize the extent to which you were really soaking everything in until one morning a couple months ago.  We were discussing Jubilee’s memory verse at the breakfast table.  Your sister was being reluctant and difficult…so YOU recited it, almost word for word.  “Toose for yourselfs dis day who you wiwl sewrve … bud as fowe me and my houwsehowd, we wiwl sewrve the Lwowrd.”  (Joshua 1:9)

I have begun, with great prompting by the Lord, and with an embarrassing amount of reluctance and temper by myself, to get up in the mornings to steal a quiet time before the races begin.  My alarm is set for quite early because you, my son, are still an early riser.  (6:30 is sleeping in for you.)

At first, I was feverishly reading my Bible and trying to cram all my prayers and contemplations in before I began to hear the squeaking of your crib as you rolled around, waking.  But, then I began to realize that this might be ok.  Why couldn’t I finish praying with you, cuddled on my lap with your strawberry and blanket?  And this is what we have been doing, at least once a week for the last month or so.

How I cherish these mornings.

And this is the thing I hope and pray the most for you.  That you would seek after the Lord with all your heart.  That you would be strong and courageous, not terrified, not discouraged.  Because you know, with every fiber of your being, that the Lord our God goes with you everywhere you go. 

I don’t even have a guess as to what you will “be” when you grow up: driven? a tad lazy? “successful”?.   But I know my heart’s desire for you is that you drive into the Lord in all your ways, all of your days because He goes with you everywhere.  He will lead you, Noah, all the days of your life.

I love you and am so proud of you, little one!

XOXOXOXOXO

Momma

You will keep in perfect peace, him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. – Isaiah 26:3-4

Noah, you’re turning one. This past year has been so hard on us, but so full of the Lord’s blessing. We are so blessed to have you in our lives, and we pray that you will grow into a man who walks with God, doing everything that God commands you — just as the Noah of Genesis did.

I am excited to see what kind of a person you will become and what kind of a personality you will have. I suspect that you will be my strong-willed child. From the get-go, you were throwing kinks in our plans: I was training for a half-marathon when I discovered that I was pregnant with you: so I had to drop my plans then. When I was 28 weeks pregnant with you, the doctor put me on bed rest and I couldn’t work and your dad and I had to completely rearrange our schedules so you would be born healthy. You were scheduled to be born on February 14, but came hurdling in this world three days early and were almost born in the car on the way to the hospital.

And from there, you have repeatedly shown us that you won’t be just like your sister. In many ways you were an easy baby. You didn’t have colic, and could generally be soothed when you cried. At first, you slept good for a newborn, giving me at least 4 hours of sleep in a row several times a night.

But then, you decided you liked things a certain way. And I came to know exhaustion and sleep-deprivation on an entirely too personal level. There were times, since you were sleeping in our room with me and your dad, that you would wake and after eating, scream for over an hour.

Sometimes two.

Old enough to not need to eat again, and with nothing visibly wrong with you, we let you at it. But you persisted in making all three of us miserable. Your sister never did that. And you didn’t stop until you won, I gave in, and fed you again.

We can’t forget, either, that when you turned about six months, you began to pull your hair when you were frustrated. Literally, pull your hair. None of the mothers we know have ever seen anything like that.

Your days are full of Jubilee. There’s hardly a moment you two are apart from each other and it’s obvious you love your sister. Your first word was “ba ba.” At the time, I thought it meant, “ball,” but I have become convinced it means “JuBAlee.” She loves you back with great gusto. I pray that you two will continue to love each other, be concerned for each other and take care of each other.

You are delighted when Daddy comes home from work. You are delighted to see me come home on the days I work. You are delighted by all your family. Oh, I hope and pray that you will continue to delight in good.

We are so busy, your dad and I, keeping up with you and your sister. This year just flew by, sleep-deprivation, spit-up and all. May you grow to know the Lord, relying on him for your measure of right, so that you may stand as a leader of men — even if you think you stand alone. May you seek after His face in all your days, my little Noah.

We love you with every beat of our hearts.

Happy one year birthday.

Love you! Mommy