Five Years Ago Today...

this picture was taken, and sent out to friends and family by my husband, to announce the birth of our son:

He woke me up this morning by coming into my room and announcing (with his hand up and all his fingers up in the air to show me his new age):

"Mommy, I'm five! I'm five years old today...it's my birthday! I'm five years old FOR REAL!"

It was the best wake-up I could have gotten. Such a happy boy...joyful to be five years old.

Over these five years, I've made many mistakes and lost my temper more times than I can count. I've not been a perfect parent, and he's not been a perfect child. But I pray that I've done a few things for him.

I pray that I have...

shown him a reflection of the unconditional love his Creator has for him,

taught him a bit about God's design for his life,

introduced him to his Savior as faithfully as I can,

begun to guide him to accept the grace of the Holy Spirit who will fill him throughout his life,

and

taught him about the beauty of the Church, the followers of Jesus who love God and each other as best they can and who walk together, hand-in-hand, on the journey of faith.

If I've done this, then perhaps I can consider that the greatest success of my life.

But I pray each day to be a better representative of Christ to my son than I was the day before. I thank God each day for the grace that offers me forgiveness, a new start, and transformative power. I pray each day that "Jed" knows the love and grace of his Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, as I do. I thank the Lord each day for the man who is "Daddy" to our "little man" and my partner in parenting...and I pray for those who have no partners as they parent. I can imagine no harder task.

In this, my son's now-sixth year of life, I pray that we will all "grow up" together through the beauty of sanctification. What a journey...