Growing Up

Saturday, James came to yet another milestone in his little life.

Mommy & Daddy removed the last vestiges of James' babyhood from his room. Our growing son has loved the changes. No more climbing into a crib after rocking. James now gets up on his "bih boy bed" (the real deal with a good, solid mattress) where he stays until Mommy or Daddy come to get him after he awakens each morning or from his nap each afternoon.

(Amazingly, the training we did once he could get out of his crib has paid off and he just plays for awhile, and then starts calling for us, but he always stays on the bed. Wow!)

Oh how quickly the past 2 1/2 years have flown. How grown up our little boy has become!

The funny thing is, I don't miss the past, as sweet as those days have been. We are so busy enjoying who this precious person is becoming.

James loves to dance and "pay gui-TAR" with one of the biggest blocks in his set. And then he brings it up to his chin, transforming it into a "BIO-lin" while bringing a long, slender block across it as a bow. Moments later, that same big block is sitting on the coffee table where James is "paying pi-nano."

One of his favorite things is to rock with me before naps while I sing worship songs or Christmas carols declaring the praises of our gracious Savior. "Fa-dter, Mommy," he declares and I translate, "Louder, Son?" "Yes." And so I belt out the next verse while my voice falters as I contemplate the glorious truths my boy delights to hear and my heart loves to sing.

Some days, as James plays with his blocks, building trains or school buses or horse trailers, I hear him singing, "Ama-sing yuv, --can i' be, --thou m' God shouldst die for me?" And other times as we tuck him in at night, after we've sung the verse, "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me pure within? Nothing but the blood of Jesus," James joins us, singing out, "So pesh-us (precious) is da fow (flow) dat makes me white as know (snow). OH! no uder (other) fount I know. Nufin but da bud (blood) of Cheesus (Jesus)."

Such grace. May it only deepen as our boy continues to grow up!