7 years

If you wouldn't mind, I need to post just once more.  You see this Friday my sweet boy turns 7.  I'm not sure why 7 is so incredibly different than 6, but it is.

A friend of mine told me when I was pregnant with Logan, who is our second child, that life wouldn't settle down again for about 6 years.  I can now attest to the brutal truth in that statement.

But...the blessing is that it has settled down.  When taking any sort of look in the rear view mirror, we are on easy street compared to where we have been.

Which is my reason for sending this request.

There is little to nothing to buy for Logan for his birthday.  And other than anywhere in the car, he doesn't care to take a trip.  There is a short list of things that he truly loves, but thankfully a growing list of people that he loves.

Over the last 6 years we have seen more tears and pain, fear and distress than we could ever imagine seeing in our baby.  But these days we see so much less of any of those.

Instead we see smiles.  And I don't just mean smiles. I mean light-up-your-face-the-world-could-not-be-a-better-place kind of smiles. And if we keep heading in this direction we will go from those smiles occupying a small portion of his life to those smiles overshadowing any pain that may have ever been any part of his life.

I don't expect for life to never be hard again.  And I don't expect for our family not to struggle...just like everyone else.  But I can tell you, from the depths of my soul, the joy that we see when his precious blue eyes light up should remind every part of us to celebrate life.  Every minute of it.

So that's my request.  This Friday, April 8th, if you wan to join us in celebrating Logan, then find a way to celebrate life.

While he loves the color red and Cat in the Hat....the truth of the matter is that he IS love.  Pure, beautiful, innocent and genuine LOVE.  If I open my heart to what God truly wants me to see....it's that.  The JOY that radiates from that little boy every...single...day.

We would love for you to celebrate with us.  Share your pictures.  Show love too others.  Do 40 random acts of love.  Hug your kids.  Be nice to your spouse.  Take a walk.  Listen to the birds chirp. Feel the sunshine on your face.  Thank someone for loving you.  Be the change you wish to see in the world.

I don't care what it is.  Just celebrate.

I can't imagine a better way to honor 7 years of pure joy than to let his precious soul inspire others.

Happy Birthday my sweet, beautiful, miracle baby boy.