Thirteen is the LUCKIEST Number

Well, Oldest Son, today is the day! The day most kids eagerly anticipate and fervently wait for. The day you turn THIRTEEN! You are officially a teenager! I'm sure that it feels for you like it's taken a very LONG time to get to this point.

And as much as you have been eagerly anticipating this day, Its arrival is somewhat bittersweet for me. And not because the teen years are supposed to be fraught with turmoil (even though your dad and I joke about that a lot), but because, from my perspective, these past thirteen years have FLOWN by. I blinked, and you changed from a tiny newborn baby into the young man you are today. And I know, that as fast as these thirteen years have gone, the next five will be exponentially faster. I want to grab time by the tail and slow it down--just a little bit.

So, in honor of your thirteenth birthday...besides the French Toast and peanut butter cake that you requested for today, I'd like to share thirteen of my favorite memories of you.

1. The day that we found out we were expecting you.

2. Telling grandparents and aunts and uncles of your impending arrival by way of a Christmas gift from your older sister--an empty picture frame with a note that said "Save this space for my new baby brother or sister. Due July 29."

3. Your sister and I living with Lowell and Sue and Julie for over a month while we waited for your arrival so you could be delivered by the doctor we loved. And your dad, patiently driving up from Goodland every weekend to see us.

4. Of course, the day you were born. You had red hair from the very beginning, and it was so much fun to tell our dear friends your name.

5. The day when you were probably a month old, that your sister got some star stickers from the store. She couldn't decide which one to give to you, so she wound up putting every single sticker in the package all over your jammies.

6. The fact that you weighed 18 lbs at 3 months, and a nurse that didn't routinely take care of you told me we should think about calorie restriction. And the look on her face when I told her you were exclusively nursed.

7. Your belly laugh when you were a baby. Something would tickle your funny bone, and you would laugh so infectiously that I couldn't help but laugh with you. You can still do that. It makes it really hard to be mad at you, sometimes.

8. One day, when you were about two, I had apparently frustrated you one too many times because you stood with your feet apart, balled up your fists at your sides, and screamed at me, your whole body shaking with rage--"I just want to do what I WANT TO DO!!"

9. Your idol worship of Bob and Larry from Veggie Tales. You had stuffed ones that you slept with and took EVERYWHERE. Larry's eyes would keep coming off and I would have to keep gluing them back together.

10. That same devotion transferred at some point to Buzz and Woody from Toy Story. It wasn't just enough to have Buzz and Woody action figures, we had to have EVERY SINGLE toy that Andy from the movie had. You even gave Uncle Lowell army men for his birthday one year.

11. The first time, while curled up on the couch next to me, you realized when you sounded out the letters m-a-t, it made the word "mat." I'll never forget the delight in your eyes.

12. The year that you tried out for the Southwind Sluggers baseball team, and didn't get picked. I remember being so sad for you and wondering if you'd be devastated. You were disappointed, but you got right back in there and played rec ball and worked really hard with your dad all year and tried out for the team again the following year--and made it!! Your determination and courage is still talked about by those coaches.

13. Your quick wit and the way that you can mimic voices and accents. Probably when you are forty, I will still want you to talk like the French peas from Veggie Tales.

These have been thirteen amazing years! And even though the next few are going to go by fast, I'm looking forward to all of the exciting things coming your way.

And I want to remind you that God has AMAZING plans for you. And that throughout the course of history, He has used young people to accomplish great things. It was in their adolescence that David defeated a giant and avoided captivity; that Esther bravely saved her entire race of people; that Josiah reigned king over all of Israel and turned his people back to the ways of God; and that Mary and Joseph became the earthly parents of our Messiah.

So...

Don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. 1 Timothy 4:12



Happy Birthday!