the big one zero!

7:30am Wednesday, December 18, 2002

Swollen to maximum capacity, Shawn escorted me to Abington Memorial Hospital to have this ginormous creature extracted from my pitiful womb.

And, then they became a sweet family of four.

Aaaah...that's better.  Thank you, Dr. Bartlett!  I can now breathe and eat.

Elijah Lewis - 10 years old

Seriously, how did this happen??

Another one, entering double digits. 

Oh my golly.  I may faint away.

 Elijah, you are a warrior.  I truly believe you have been given a spirit of fearless protection and loyalty and fight, not flight.  May you pursue God's greater reward always.  May you continue to love deeply, pursue others passionately, ponder quietly, hug endearingly, lead courageously, and most of all serve the Lord your God with all your might.

You are a gem.

 I am so very privileged to be your momma.

I love you.

Lord, continue to guide us as we raise Elijah and his brothers.

May he grow to love you and serve you.

Allow him to be used for your glory, your kingdom's sake.

And, please Lord, let me sniff their heads for a few more years while they are under our roof still.

May we enjoy each day, each moment that they are with us.

I was never one to over schedule their baby days.

Many a bible studies, MOPS groups, play dates were turned down by

this older and tired, but oh...so content, momma.

I never wanted to busy up our days and fill it with a lot of driving and appointments.

It just wasn't my thing.

I wanted to savor the lazy pajama days (me in mine pjs too).

I wanted to keep them scheduled in eating and sleeping.

I wanted to lay them down in their cribs not their car seats.

Looking back, I am happy with how we did life in those early years.

I could've succumbed to "peer pressure" or obligation.

But I didn't.  I know what I wanted for my babies and I am ever so glad now that we took it sloooooow.

Because life comes at you hard.  I wanted no regrets.

I am so thrilled to say today with a 12, 10 and 8 year old, I have no regrets for our plain and simple days of yesteryear.  

So with that said, now we are off and running to ball fields and schools and gymnasiums.

And, I couldn't be happier doing all of those things with the boys and Shawn - now.

There is a time to sit and a time to go.

I'm thankful that God gave me wisdom early on to just sit.