Happy Birthday Lil Man!

09-09-09. A special and unique date to celebrate the first birthday of an extremely special and unique baby boy – our grandson! My mind cannot comprehend that an entire year has vanished. It seems only yesterday, that I swaddled this tiny gift from God in my arms and now with his lightning speed toddling around the house, I can barely contain him in my arms.

To hear my husband and I rant and rave and brag about Lil Man, you would be convinced that we are his grandparents. We chat about his intelligence after he returns home in the evenings. We are certain he has walked, talked, kissed, waved, clapped and accomplished everything before any child his age. We converse about how sweet he is and how coordinated he is and then marvel at how he took the karaoke machine’s microphone, “sang” into it and danced at the same time.

I reflect on the first time after he had begun the transition to walking, he bumped his head at our home. We called his Mom at work. We were ready to rush to the doctor. After his Mom assured us he was fine, Grampy and Grammy prayed for him and he calmed right down. God has blessed us with a new person to pray for and to teach him about God’s love for him. We have a children’s Bible songs CD we play in the car everyday while we commute with him. He claps and dances and absorbs those important lyrics everyday. One night last week, my husband started singing one of those catchy tunes and I joined in and we both burst into laughter.

Before Lil Man, I always marveled at how grandparents would boast and brag about their grandchildren. I just did not “get it”. Now I understand completely. Grandchildren enter our lives when we are more mature and stable adults. We partake in the giddiness of grandparenting and then return the little ones home to their parents where discipline, doctor’s appointments, and other drudgeries of parenting belong to them. We try our best to love him beyond measure and to teach him about God’s love for him.

I never dreamed I would live long enough to be a grandmother. I did not even consider that it would be a possibility for me. And then Lil Man entered our lives. Oh, the joy he has given to me in the midst of much suffering.