Orion's 5th birthday

 Dear Orion,
You were born a little before midnight on December 2, exactly on your due date. Had you tarried any longer my midwife would have had to take me to the hospital because she's only allowed 24 hours from the time when the mommy's water breaks. 


We named you Orion because many believe that Jesus will come through the constellation of Orion. We wanted your name to remind people that Jesus is coming soon.

Since you were born you've been a best friend to Omega and a treasure to me. You gave me more challenges than I expected but I wouldn't trade those for anything. I love who you are and who you are becoming. I've learned that boys are a whole different experience than girls and I praise God for the opportunity to bring up a man in the truest sense of the word. 

A man who will not be bought or sold. A man who in his inmost soul is true and honest. A man who will not fear to call sin by it's right name. A man whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle is to the pole. A man who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.

This is you at maybe a month old.

 

 

 

This is you at  8 months or so. You always had a thing with sticking your tongue out. 

I loved squishing my cheeks against your cheeks. 

 They were irresistibly cute.

 This is you at two. That's when a lot of prayers went up for you. You tested the boundaries longer and stronger than I was used to with your sister.

It was also a stressful time of transition for us in moving to Willcox and fixing up a house. That with learning to handle two young people at once was a real challenge.

I hope on your wedding day you're not sticking your tongue out in all the pictures...                                                                      You are just over 3 in this picture to the left.

Now you're five. Here are some of the quirky things that characterized you as a four year old.

• Favorites:
• Food = "dessert." 
• Song = "Jesus Loves Me"
• Linguistic quirks. You often like to begin your sentences with “Do you not know what this is?” or “Do you not know what I saw?” I’m not sure where you got the “Do you not know” thing. You still don't pronounce your “R”s all the time. You can say words that have R in them like “Church” or “Work” or “Tractor” but if you say “dark” it sounds more like “doke”. "Guitar" sounds like “guitow” or “car” sound like “cowe.” “Four” sounds like “foe.” “Fork” sounds like “foke”. “Hard” sounds like “hode.” 
• You and Omega have funny bath time rituals. When you get out of the bathtub you put the towel around you and run down the hall saying "angel, angel" - only it sounds more like "ango, ango". Sometimes you twirl around with the towel pretending you are a car wash too.
• Bedtime fun - Now one of your favorite things to do is pretend you are a dolly. You pull your shirt up so I can push your belly button to turn you on. Then you open your eyes. Then I squeeze your hand and you start making noises. Sometimes I’ll suggest things like, “I wonder if this dolly knows how to say ‘I love you’” or “I wonder if this dolly knows how to sing songs.” Otherwise I get random mumbo jumbo yucky static noises so then I have to say, “Ewe…I think this dolly is broken. Let me replace the batteries” and I do stuff to your back and flip you over and push you belly button again to turn you on and see if I fixed the problem. One thing that’s nice is you let me “turn you off” too so that little game doesn’t last forever. 
• Repetitive sayings - When we drive by a train you like to say in unison with Omega “Train-train-chook-a-chook, train-train-chook-a-chook” And you both say that over, and over, and over, and over, and over…At least you are practicing rhythm. (Later it morphed into June-June-chook-a-chook).When we drive to church we pass by a lot of farmer’s fields and for a while there were cranes everywhere eating grain because this is a layover for their winter flight. So for whatever reason you and Omega would say, “Look at all those mosquitoes…Look at all those mosquitoes” over and over and over and over. You knew they weren’t mosquitoes but they were so innumerable that they reminded you of a swarm of mosquitoes.
• Eating habits - It is not uncommon for you to suddenly get inspired to be an animal and put you food on you chair and get on you hands and knees and eat it with you mouth. Or, if I haven’t shut the curtains yet, yoiu will stand up and start dancing or doing funny things in the reflection of the window. You also love bananas. I think you could eat toast and fruit for every meal and be as happy as monkeys in the rainforest.  

You are now 5. You can't read yet, but you pretend to read your bible and study on your "computer"

Orion, since you were two I have prayed consistently and earnestly that you would have control over your passions, that you would learn to yield your will graciously even when it conflicts with your desires. "To subdue self and bring the passions under the control of the will is the greatest conquest that men and women can achieve." (Counsels on Health, 350) I am so thrilled to see that prayer answered in your life. You have become so much more self controlled and you are a happier boy. When you are tempted to throw a fit or get upset over something, now you ask for help and communicate calmly. Did you know that you stand higher in the sight of God and the heavenly angels than the most renowned general that ever led an army to battle and to victory? I am SO proud of you and the victories you've gained in your character. 

Orion, right now you are really into tractors. They fascinate you tremendously. They get important jobs done. The tractor behind you in this picture was digging up the earth in order to replace a pipe in the ground. My prayer for you this next year is for you to develop a servant's heart. A tractor is very much like a servant. I pray that you would learn to work hard because you want to serve the Lord and make the load of others lighter. This next year, this will be your key verse: "With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:" Ephesians 6:7

That's why for your birthday I wanted to get you these pajamas. They will remind me to keep praying this verse for you and giving you opportunities to develop the heart of a servant. Happy Birthday Orion!