Counting My Blessings - Day 2

Yesterday I counted my most recent "little blessing".  Today I'm counting my first, Jadon.  He was a surprise, in that we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl.  Ever since he was born, he's been surprising us - always keeping us on our toes.  My labor with him was a grand total of 5 hours (which I thought was really fast... until I had Madelynn, who came in 2.5!).  He came so quickly that the midwife was not even ready to "catch" him, so she scooped him up off the end of the hospital bed, only having one glove on.  He's been difficult to "catch" ever since... the fastest crawler that I had ever seen and, once walking, always on the run.  

It's been such a privilege to be Jadon's mommy.  He's an extremely independent little boy, which has definitely brought it's challenges in parenting.  Some day I will need to remember to apologize to him because, as the firstborn, we're figuring everything out with him.  (I'd like the think that as Madelynn grows, we'll have a better grasp on this whole parenting thing.)  At 3 years old, we're facing that power struggle that I recognize is part of his growing up.  We've had our challenges over the last few months, but I can't help but see how God is changing his heart, and using those qualities that can sometimes be frustrating, to glorify Him and encourage others - his incessant talking to speak the gospel, his stubbornness to stand up for his convictions, his unending imagination to remind me that there's more to life than what you can see with your eyes, his ability to make friends with anyone to remind me that we need to surround ourselves with people to encourage and to be encouraged by.  

So today and everyday, I am thankful for my son.  I'm thankful for his smile, his laugh, his wow-ser kisses, his tenderness, his tackles, his creativity, his thoughtfulness, his love for his baby sister, his ability to make people feel loved and special, his singing, his mischievous nature, and so much more.  

 

~ Carrie ~