Happy Birthday, John-John!

Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. Psalm 16:5-6


This may be a difficult blog to write, since the music is pounding from the cd player in the kitchen (where Sarah Beth is doing the dishes from brunch and practicing for Bella Notte, a big performance for her choir this weekend), and there is some kind of rescue situation going on in the living room (where Han and John-John are playing with some of his new toys). If this wanders around a little more than usual, you'll know why.

Well, it's John-John's seventh birthday, if you can even imagine such a thing. I can't, frankly. How is it possible that he's that old? And his cousin Daniel, his birthday buddy, is 24. And my nephews, Ben and Matt, turned 22 on Friday. Weren't they all babies yesterday? Where did the time go?

Many of you know that John's birth was surrounded by serious illness, both mine and his. I didn't even see him for the first three days of his life. When I was allowed to see him, I thought he was just so beautiful--I was clearly delirious, because when I see pictures of the two of us now, I realize how lifeless and sad we both look. He was in intensive care with a sign that said not to stimulate, because his little lungs were just not ready to breathe on their own. It's hard for me to imagine that the very, very active little boy who loves to slide in his socks all the way down our long hallway was once such a sick baby. But he was. Even then, though, God was at work, preparing his little lungs to function, growing him daily to be the big boy he is today. I can't imagine my life without a John-John. I'm fairly certain it would be a lot quieter, but also pretty dull most days. After all, who would give me the daily rundown of what kinds of animals like to kill and eat what other kinds of animals? Or who would run from the bathroom after his bath screaming, "Naked boy alert!" all the way down the hall? Who would keep us all in line with the threat of his "toots of fury"? And who would fall asleep with his little arm draped around me after whispering, "I love you so much, Mommy"? I can't imagine my life without those things, now.

So many of you have emailed to check on us. We are doing better. It's a slow, slow process to recover from an illness that has really set us back on our heels. We continue to have the cough of a 2-pack-a-day smoker, and we're still struggling to get some sleep and feel stronger, but we are definitely on the downhill swing. We are not going to church today, however, because we cannot face the three different modes of public transportation it takes for us to get there, and because we can't afford to catch anything else at this point. Instead, we are spending the day with one another, celebrating John's birthday and watching Chronicles of Narnia as a family. It should be a fun day. I hope wherever you are in the world you are preparing for (or already enjoying) some Sunday rest, and that no one in your family is unleashing the toots of fury! Blessings to you and yours!
His,
Kellye