Happy 1st Birthday, buddy! It has been an absolute joy to watch you grow this past year. We have delighted in your calm nature, sweet spirit and eager communication. We appreciate how quickly you fall asleep when you're tired and how happy you are when you're awake. We love sitting down to dinner with you and we relish the fact that your excellent eating habits have given us all reason to linger a little bit longer at the table each night. You have been intentional about building relationships with all of us from the start and it's so encouraging to watch you pursue the people you love.
Growing from a little baby into a big, thriving one year old has made this a year of rapid change. Your independence and autonomy has been emerging in new ways every single day and we know that the year to come is going to be full of even more significant changes. We are eagerly looking forward to getting to know you better as we navigate each new milestone together.
As we anticipate the year ahead and the many years that will follow this one, there are a few things we want you to know.
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| Eating Birthday Cake :) |
You are unique.
I often think about the profound differences between you and Nicole. There are many similarities that will continue to connect you like your sweet spirits and your love for others, but it's been obvious from the beginning that you are your own person. God created you to be exactly who you are and we celebrate that. The Bible tells us that you were made in the likeness of God, which means that you were created to bear His image. It's humbling and amazing to bear the image of an Almighty God, but we know that as you grow in the faith and knowledge of God we will continue to see unique things about who you are and who God is.
You are loved.
We love you, Jonah! I hope that you experience the fullness and depth of our love for you every single day. It's a love of sacrifice, acceptance and delight but it's also imperfect. 1 John 3:16a says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us." The love that Jesus offers you is incomprehensibly perfect. The depth and fullness of God's love for you is far greater than any love we could offer you on our own. You are loved by your Creator and He wants you to know the fullness of that love. One of our greatest hopes for your life is that you will encounter God's unconditional love for you.
You are prayed for.
We spend a lot of time talking to God about you. We regularly thank God for you, we seek wisdom regarding how to raise you and we ask God to protect you. We often pray Matthew 7:13-14 over you that you,
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. but small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
Our prayer for you is that you will find the narrow gate that leads to life and that you will choose to enter it.
Jonah, you are unique, loved and prayed for. We are delighted to call you our son and we couldn't imagine life without your dimpled smile. Happy Birthday!
Love,
Mom and Dad
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