Happy 31st Birthday
to my "gift from God", Nathan!
July 13, 2024
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| July 13, 1993 - Birth |
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| CELEBRATING YOUR 31ST BIRTHDAY JULY 2024 WITH YOUR BROTHER |
It is hard to believe that you are in your 30s now. I looked at you the other day and still saw my baby boy and my heart was wrecked because I 'lost' your first year because of my PPD. You were a perfect gift in 1993 and you are still that perfect gift in 2024. As I looked at you looking at your own babies and the sheer delight and pride and love in your eyes, I felt acutely my delight in you all over again.
Wow, what a year you have had! Your firstborn turned 1 last November 17 and just 2 weeks ago you and Sarah welcomed your second-born! What a joy to be present to see your beautiful girls, and yes, they are perfect in every way. According to their name meanings, Georgia is an earth-mover while your Evangeline will be a messenger of good news of hope and joy! What a blessing you have received from your Heavenly Father and what a blessing for them to be surrounded by so much love. You and Sarah have made your home into such a beautiful homey environment. They will have so much more than you or Dan ever had and that makes my heart glad. The one thing I will always pray for them is that they will early on have a longing to know Jesus and be be firmly grounded in the Word and be involved in a church community that loves and supports them. You and Sarah practice intentional parenting providing all they need to grow as healthy children. So proud of you.
It is funny that sorrow and joy can coexist in one's journey. It is that season for me, family illness combined with the birth of a new grandchild and the birthday of my firstborn. It is also that season that I am learning that joy has nothing to do with that happy emotion or circumstances, but a deep seated rest in the character of God, and hope that all will be redeemed. As I thought and prayed about what my blessing and exhortation for you would be this year, certain phrases stood out in my reading in John 15: 4, 16-17:
4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me.
16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you. 17 This [is what] I command you: that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another.
Remain in me…lasting fruit…chosen…appointed…placed…purposefully planted…
What does it mean to remain? Staying in His Presence which could mean active intentional involvement carving out time reading His Word, praying, worshipping but also that passive resting or ruminating while you go about your mundane tasks of everyday living. This produces the lasting fruit found in Galatians 5: 22-23:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
I actually like to gauge my 'connection' or my 'remaining' by the fruit I see in my life. Ugh. I always have a long way to go. Sigh. I see my inconsistent remaining, my disconnection seasons where I see dried up fruit.
It is comforting when I feel my inadequacy to be reminded that I am chosen, appointed, placed and purposefully planted where I am. That His love awaits me when I replug to be nurtured once more.
You and Sarah are in a season of early parenting marked by physical and mental exhaustion, plus you have a job that also requires much mental energy. You are growing to know what unselfish love really means as you put aside your needs for the needs of your children.
May you find times where you can find 'selah', a pause where your soul can find rest to be equipped for the demands of your season, even if it's just whisper of "Lord, help, I need You." Find moments where you can do what brings Nathan a quiet joy, maybe reading a good book or throwing a basketball, singing a worship song that resonates. I loved when you said the other day about doing worship about feeling 'freedom'. That's what soul joy feels like. Sacred moments of clarity.
Some of your fave moments in the past year including the sushi birthday celebration with your lil bro!:
Prayer:
Father, I come to you with a heart full of love for my child, the one who made me a mother. Thank You for this precious and perfect gift. He has such a loving and gracious heart. Now he is a father and will have profound yearnings for his children that mirrors Your heart for him. Help him to remain in You so that You will remain in Him. Please pour Your spirit on him as he traverses this part of his journey and equip him with all that is needed. Please grant him many sacred moments of 'freedom' where he knows Your Presence in a satisfying and healing way. Thank You for giving him a community where he can find support. I ask that deliver him and his family from evil and surround them all with Your shield of protection in all areas of their lives, physical, mental, spiritual, financial. May Georgia and Evangeline grow to be like their names with You as their firm foundation. May they all bear lasting fruit for You.
Thank You for Your faithfulness. Great are You, Lord and most worthy to be praised.
In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray
Amen.
There must be music in my blessing, right?
Abide - Aaron Williams
Abide (Lyrics)
For my waking breath
For my daily bread
I depend on You
I depend on You
For the sun to rise
For my sleep at night
I depend on You
Yes I depend on You
You’re the way the truth and the life
You’re the well that never runs dry
I’m the branch and You are the vine
Draw me close and teach me to abide
Where the Spirit leads
As I’m following
I depend on You
I depend on You
For the victories
Still in front of me
I depend on You
I depend on You
You’re the way the truth and the life
You’re the well that will never run dry
I’m the branch and You are the vine
Draw me close and teach me to abide
Be my strength my song in the night
By my all my Treasure my prize
I am Yours forever You’re mine
Draw me close and teach me to abide
When I pass through death
As I enter rest
I depend on You
I depend on You
For eternal life
To be raised with Christ
I depend on You
I depend on You
With all my love, thoughts and prayers from a mama who adores you...
Your Mom.💗💗
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