Sixteen years ago, on a cool Thanksgiving Sunday morning, I pushed and you emerged, as we were physically separated … by life.
Today we celebrate you, your life. Though you are are a gifted young man, we do not celebrate because of what you have done, we do not even celebrate because of what you will do. We simply celebrate that you are, that you live, that you have life.
As the youngest in the family, you are like the caboose that leaves every station last, that feels the twists and the turns with the greatest force, that enters every town after all the rest. It was after you grew too big that the onesies in the nursery cupboard were put away, after you viewed and smudged the picture books, they were handed down to younger ones, soon you will be the last to use the coveted ‘L’ as you sit behind the wheel and learn how to drive … no longer to be sanctioned to the passenger seat.
The life you have goes beyond air filling your lungs, blood circulating through your veins, and the thoughts that go through your brain. The life you have is not simply about physical living (though that is such a beautiful miracle), but the soul within you that makes you you, that makes you His.
That most inner place, created in the inmost place, the place where The spirit of God dwells. It is there that your life begins to take shape.
Ben, I love your life, and the gift you are to our family. I love how you wonder about deep and meaningful things. I love watching you act on stage, play a video game, sketch at your desk, or when you try so hard to cram decades of DC and Marvel history into my archaic brain. I love that you seek wise counsel from men in your life, and that you love the souls of others, and your desire for them to follow God.
I love your camp. It is where you get filled and where you can feed others. And like that day sixteen years ago, each summer we get physically separated … by life … But it is SO good.
And there is so much more to come! (Or, as your dad would say, “the best is yet to come”)
When I was expecting you, there was a verse in a wall in our house, that I read daily, in contemplation of your life:
“they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 31:40
May you wait on the Lord, depending on Him, every day of your life.
With love to the moon … and back,
Mom
itsawonderfilledlife 