The Seven Year Old

Noah is the best surprise I have ever gotten. 

Noah is beautiful inside and out and His Creator made him wonderfully complex. 

He is expressive and yet secretive all at once. He is full of boundless energy but can sit and read or be read to for as long as you will sit with him. 

He is curious and knowledgable about many things. He loves asking questions and hearing answers. 

He is a little boy sometimes scared and nervous about the world around him yet in many ways more mature than you expect. Sometimes that makes me forget just how little he really is. 

Noah loves to play. He loves to imagine. His play is where I see his little gears turning and turning. 

He is so much like his daddy and so much like me. It is wonderful to see how God knit him together.

He is a teacher's dream. A good learner and almost always behaved ;) He is a helper and most afternoons if I am looking for him I can find him with either of his teachers (current or Kindergarten) helping out. He loves school and not just for P.E. Even though that is what he will tell you...

Mostly he loves to play. Anything and everything. From football to school to vet or doctor's office. But sports is his main obsession. He is certainly all boy. 

And now he is seven. 

And truthfully it makes my heart hurt a bit. I used to tell him that you weren't a big kid until you were seven. Now I have tried to push that off until nine. But the truth is he is so in the edge of being that big kid he longs to be. And so much closer to being that teenager and then that adult that no longer needs me. And while I do want him to be an independent adult....

I always want him to need his Mom. And whether he needs it or not I will always be here to offer up prayer, cheer him on, give a big hug, cook a meal, wash a load of laundry,listen to a story, answer questions or look at the million and one pictures I took of his precious and wonderful childhood. 

Happiest of birthdays my little man. You delighted me from the start! I love you so much! But please slow down the growing up! 

Dear Father, 

Thank you for entrusting me with Noah. I know he is even more precious to you than he is to me! My prayer for his next year is that it will be one of discovery. That with his ever increasing reading skills he will discover more of You and your love for him. That he will discover new ideas and possibilities through books. I pray he will discover more about his strengths and learn to have more confidence in himself. I pray he will discover new things he is passionate about. I pray he will discover more appreciation for his brother and family. I pray he discovers more talents you have hidden in him. I pray that Adam and I will be a helper in these discoveries and not a hindrance. And most of all thank you thank you for allowing me to live this little one of yours! 

Amen.