To My Almost 10 Year Old

 Owen. I really like you at almost 10 years old.

You are one of the funniest people I know. You slide your quiet sarcasm and quick wit into conversations and leave me laughing every day. You can be wild and crazy with your friends but also treasure quiet time at home. You ask me every day to play football with you because I am the best quarterback in the county.

You are one of the most talented people I know. You can do anything you set your mind to. Tennis, baseball, basketball, golf...Your coaches always comment on your skill, coordination, and humble attitude. Or how about running 10 miles with your dad in honor of your tenth birthday? Yes, you did that too. 10 MILES. Buddy, you know that's not normal, right? And yet you acted like it was no big deal. That's you - hit a home run, make a crazy infield play, drive a golf ball 155 yards, go on a 10 mile run - and then walk off like nothing even happened.

You are one of the deepest people I know. You have a philosophical mind and a tender heart. You read poetry and write songs. You love to read about real stories - athletes, missionaries, historical leaders. I treasure your questions because I know they always come with much thought behind them.

You are one of the most sincere people I know. You are who you are and you don't pretend to be anyone but you. You love fishing and you hate watching sad movies. You make friends with old guys at sporting events. You wear a baseball jersey every day and you love picking which radio channel to listen to in the van.

Bud, you are a joy. I love watching you grow up and pray every day for you to be a man after God's own heart, strong and courageous and wise. I love watching you become who you are.

Happy birthday, my sweet almost 10 year old!

To My Almost 15 Year Old

Claire-bear, 15 seems too old and at the same time, just right.

What a year it has been for you. You've always been diligent, and your diligence paid off in a big way when you were chosen to receive a scholarship to train at the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy in Mallorca, Spain, this past September. The thing that I savored the most was that all the coaches who worked with you saw, beyond even your talent and skill in tennis, a heart that exemplified the character they were trying to promote: effort, humility, respect, intensity, and discipline.

I thought maybe a trip to Spain would satisfy your heart, but instead I believe it lit a fire. You want to travel the world, to see and taste and experience the fulness of every moment. You love having a purpose, a goal, and throwing yourself into it with everything you have. You are courageous and bold and always up for an adventure, and I'm afraid you are going to leave me before I am ready for it.

Car conversations with you are my favorite. You are a good listener and full of wisdom. I love hearing your perspective on all matters. I love seeing your faith grow, watching you seek the Lord and His will for your life, hearing you wrestle through issues, watching you make thoughtful decisions.

You are a quiet leader, a loyal friend, a non-quitter. You broke your foot last December and still played three basketball games before we finally realized it was actually broken. You had mono this summer and still led your team to win the state junior team tennis championship before we realized that it was actually mono. I don't really know anyone else like you.

I know these next few years are going to fly by, but I am so deeply grateful for a front-seat view to watch you becoming who you are. Keep growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. Keep trusting Him and acknowledging Him in all your ways. 

Happy birthday, my sweet almost-fifteen-year-old!!!

 

To My 12 Year and 1 Day Old

 AK, I hope you will forgive me for being two days late with your "birthday eve" letter for the first time ever. I think you will, because the reason I was late was because we were off skiing and hiking and horseback riding and splashing in creeks. In fact, I can't think of a more perfect way to celebrate your 12th birthday.

A weekend full of fun and adventure was exactly right, because you are all about fun and adventure. You are motivated by fun, and you bring fun with you wherever you go. I teach your grammar class at school and it is hopeless to try to keep a straight "teacher" face when you crack the most off the wall jokes. I love talking with you in different accents in the car. You love making people laugh, and you are good at it.

You have mad skills when it comes to creating anything out of anything. I am terrible at planning things like Halloween costumes or Valentine's boxes for school, but it's fine because you can take a cardboard box and make a vending machine costume complete with snacks to share with friends, or a human size tree complete with a hole in the trunk to deposit Valentines. Your fingers move faster than I can even follow with my eyes when you are crocheting, and you can turn a ball of yarn into a small woodland creature before I even realize you are working on a new project. You are a night owl and stay up later than me, dreaming of new things to create.

You love acting and soccer and piano. You have rhythm in your bones and have played percussion twice now in front of a crowd, once with me at the widows' banquet at our church, and once with the band at youth group.

You are most at home when you are helping. You wear your feelings on your sleeve. You love all animals, especially dogs and horses and axolotls (???), and they love you too. Well, I don't know about axolotls, but definitely horses and dogs love you. You are beautiful and fun and precocious and deeper than people might realize. You are growing in every way. You are one of the best gifts I have ever been given.

I see the image of God in you - in your joy and laughter, in your skill and creativity, in the way you help others, in your music and emotions. My prayer for you on your 12th birthday is that you would live in all the blessings of one who knows, loves, and fears the Lord, and that you would be fully convinced of who you are and whose you are.

Happy birthday, my sweet 12-year-and-1-day-old!!!

To My Almost 9 Year Old

Owen, you are almost nine!!! Last year in single digits...I can hardly believe it. At almost nine years old, I see so much good in you.

I see an ability to rise to the occasion whether in baseball, tennis, football, or whatever it is you are doing. You have the ability to focus and though you make it through practice, you live for the game. You broke your leg in a football game this year and still played two more quarters to finish out the game before we knew you had broken it!

   

I see humor and a quick wit in you. You crack one-liners that make me laugh out loud almost every day. You are shy around people you don't know so well, but so very silly with your friends. You and your friends at school call each other "the Billy Bobs" and have a secret handshake. I never know what you are going to call our dog Lucy from day to day - it could be anything from "Vanessa" to "Tootsarinka."

I see a deep well of thought and understanding in you. You can be so absent minded when it comes to practical matters, but I think it's because your mind is always considering some deep matter. You love reading Bible stories at night and writing prayers in your journal. With your philosophical spirit, you can be a little melancholy sometimes...I asked you recently whether you thought life was mostly happy or mostly sad, and after thinking a little while you said, "Well, the sad parts seem like they last longer." I know how that feels - but we will keep living in hope, bud.

I see a tender heart in you. You feel things deeply and notice what others are feeling as well. You work hard to push past your fears and disappointments. You find joy in routine and tradition. You can get lost for hours in an imaginary game of baseball or war. 

You are so smart and kind, buddy. You're silly and serious, and I can't get enough of watching you become who God is making you to be. Keep trusting Him, bud. The verse we repeat to each other habitually is "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

And He is, buddy. Before you and behind you, and all around you. Be strong and courageous.

Happy birthday, my almost-nine-year-old!

 

To My Almost 14 Year Old

Claire-bear, what could I say about you on the eve of your fourteenth birthday?

Could I say that you are one of the most committed people I know? That if you set a goal, nothing can stop you? That when I asked you what you thought you might want to do when you grow up, you said, "I don't know, but whatever it is, I'm going to finish it"?

Could I talk about how you take responsibility so seriously? How you are a wonderful and reliable babysitter for multiple families? How you used some of your years of savings to help pay for an intense week of tennis training at Hilton Head this summer? How you are fiercely loyal to your friends and your teams, or how you have grown in confidence and leadership over the years, or how behind all your athletics you are also a talented musician?

Could I say that you take your faith seriously? That you ask hard questions and consider all the facts? That you have an innate wisdom and often surprise me with a perspective I hadn't considered before? That I adore our car conversations, which happen more and more frequently due to the million and one sports that you play?

Could I talk about your calm presence in a room? Or the way we laugh because so many people are "scared" of you and your intensity in sports until they get to know you better? Or how you push yourself to be stronger, how you are able to deadlift 255 pounds, but how you are also able to laugh at yourself and recover from mistakes?

I could say all that and more, because it's all true. You are a treasure, Claire Alyse. I'm so very very glad that you were born.

Happy birthday, my sweet almost-14-year-old!

 

To My Almost 11 Year Old

Sweet Averi Kate. When you were a silly, crazy toddler, I would try to imagine what you would be like as you grew up. Now you are almost eleven, as silly and crazy as ever, and I just love who you are.

You are the most creative person I know. Every night you sit in your room and make things. I am constantly amazed by the creations you make out of scraps of fabric and cardboard. For your Valentine's box this year you made a garden out of an oatmeal box complete with felt plants and animals that you had sewn pinned to the top. And you are so generous with your creations, staying up late into the night to make sure all your friends will have something to take home with them.  

You are so gifted musically. You have been practicing up a storm on the piano this year. You can pick out any tune by ear, you are getting really good at using chords to play along with Dad on the guitar, and you are improving so much in your sight reading. I never have to tell you to practice - in fact, I often have to pull you away from the piano to do math or spelling. I feel pretty deeply in my bones that music is going to be important in your life.

You are always up for an adventure - if it involves climbing, mountain biking, camping, exploring - you are all in. You think outside of the box. You always have an idea to fix any problem, and you are not afraid to try it. You love animals. You surely love a party and would never say "no" to the chance to hang out with friends. You are HILARIOUS. Your quick wit and ridiculous accents have me in stitches all the time. Your laugh is the best thing ever.

You have such a tender heart. Your feelings are big, and that makes life both really joyful and really hard, depending on the day and hour. You are growing so much into that - learning to experience your emotions while not letting them take control. You are one of the sweetest people I know.

You love soccer and gymnastics and rollerblading down the street with Lucy pulling you along. You are a scrappy defender in basketball. During this last basketball season I took bets at the beginning of every game on how many times you would end up on the floor. You love acting and you are so good at it. You will get into character and recite lines in front of a crowd without blinking an eye, but you hide from my camera and are reluctant to be the center of attention as simply "AK".

Aves, I'm so thankful to be in the front row, watching you become who your Creator had in mind before you ever drew a breath. You bring joy and beauty to this world. I love who you are.

Happy birthday, my sweet almost-eleven-year-old!