Birthdays, Birthdays, They’re so much fun…

“Birthdays, birthdays, they’re so much fun, Stand up when I say the month your birthday comes…”

Those are lyrics to a little song we used to sing in Kindergarten back when I was teaching. It’s a fun little diddy that the students LOVED.

The month of December is a time of birthdays in this family. We tried to stay away from December when having #1 kid. But, God had totally different plans and we ended up having a December kid.

On Marci’s side of the family there are about 8 or 9 birthdays from cousins to one sister in law. On Matthew’s side of the family there are about 7 birthdays from cousins to immediate family.

And then there’s the celebration of Jesus’ birthday. Can’t forget about that one. It’s kinda a big deal….you know…for the world.

We are really trying to focus on PRESENCE and not PRESENTS for birthdays and Christmas. We have a lot of junk….that we just moved…it’s everywhere. It’s sickening really. But that’s a whole other soapbox.

Recently we went back to Georgia for a visit. Ruby got to play with cousins (presence), go to the Georgia Aquarium with Grandparents (presence), see skyscrapers, eat at the Varsity (yuuummm…that’s a present right there),eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut, eat a “Gut Bomb” aka Krystal burger, jump in North Georgia leaves, fly on numerous planes, watch men de-ice a plane, drink apple juice at 35,000 feet in the air, play with life-long friends, have “bought” birthday cakes, sit with her great-grandmother, and spend eight straight days with her Papa Bear (presence). I’d say those are good PRESENTS and PRESENCES.

(Throwing the football with Papa Bear during a layover at the Denver airport. She will play catch for 2 hours straight if you let her.)

(Mickey Mouse cake at Mama Gail’s house. Made by a local woman.)

(Store bought birthday cake at Grandma’s and PawPaw’s. First time eating store bought cake.)

(Varsity hotdog…”Naked Dog”..it’s an experience)

(Shark mask at Georgia Aquarium)

(Going through the tunnel at Georgia Aquarium)

(Watching a diver feed the sponges/coral at the Georgia Aquarium)

(Eating a Krispy Kreme doughnut)

(Ruby in the green frog hat. Jumping and catching some air in the leaves on a trampoline with a cousin. Max the dog is watching.)

We want her to relish in experiences, service to others and making the most of the talents God has given to her. Hopefully, we are instilling that those things are more important than what she can “get, gain or have” on her birthday or Christmas.

She’s still young enough that we are molding her and shaping her idea or paradigms for what birthdays should be like. Also, birthdays are still a little confusing to her. First, she has her birthday. Then the very next day we celebrate Wooster’s birthday and then after that we start REALLY talking about Jesus’ birthday. She kinda thinks that everyone’s birthday is her birthday. She will tell everyone “Happy Birthday!” in salutations and greetings during this month. We keep a Happy Birthday banner up the whole month of December.

She has been a fun little girl to get to know, help train, nurture her independence and watch her grow into what God wants her to be.

(Seconds old)

(Staring through the glass. One day old.)

“I’m so little”, she’ll sweetly say as she climbs up into my lap at different times during the day. I say that to her a good bit during the day; not in a condescending way, or in a way to rebuke her. I say it to remind myself that she IS so little. I usually stop what I’m doing and sit with her for however long she wants when she says that sweet statement. It’s a good tactic by her. J

It’s a good reminder when she says it to me. It makes me focus on her and the little time that we have together. She is little. She has little hands, little feet, and little arms, a little growing mind…little everything. Children are only so little for a short amount of time. There’s a saying, ‘The days are long, but the years are short”. It’s true. Three years have gone swiftly by.

(Kansas. 13 months. Barking like a dog when visiting the dogs up the street.)

(Kansas. 15 months. Sitting in the dirt while on a “walk”.)

(Kansas. South side of yard. 15 months. Walking and investigating with Papa Bear. He doesn’t have to reach so far down now to hold her hand.)

Wooster will sometimes start counting off the summers and winters by saying “We only have 15 or so more summers with her” or “We only have 15 more Christmas’ with her”.

She is so little.

We have a great responsibility.

Birthdays are so much fun, but they are getting quicker and quicker. She is only so little for so long (I say that quite often). We want to experience her and her presence. We want to teach her how to see God through and in her experiences and how to BE in His presence. Her birthday is fun because of PRESENCE and not PRESENTS.