August 20, 2011

• Camden Bailey is NINE!

  Camden turned nine years old on the 17th. Blake and I have thought a lot about how nine is the mid-point of our 18 years that we have to raise him. I know that its these next nine years that he will remember the most. For men, especially, they don’t seem to have a lot of memories from their early childhood. I wonder why that is? However, the memories we make from here on out with him….he will remember those for sure. I thought about how I wanted to make a few resolutions to him in my heart. I am not brave enough to tell him out loud…not yet anyway, but I want them documented. I want them to be real.

   

  Dear Camden,
    I remember sitting in your nursery feeling you kick inside longing for the day that you would be in my arms. I had no idea what to expect, but I had years of imagination. I always wanted you baby boy.
  You were a handful from day one. The Babywise books became a joke as we realized if we were going to get any sleep (along with all of our fellow Bible college students in the apartments surrounding us) you were going to have to sleep in our bed as close as you could wiggle to my side. I would slowly inch you over to your Daddy’s side in the middle of the night, but long before you could scoot or crawl I would find you back smashed against me in a few minutes time. We broke all the rules you and I. You nursed all hours of the night and day. We napped together. We rocked you until you were 18 months old. We went and got you every time you cried until you were 11 months old.
  As a toddler you wore me OUT! I would tell you all the time, “Its a good thing you are cute!” And you would giggle. And I would melt. I would count down the minutes until your Daddy came home. And then I would lay on the couch in exhaustion and watch in awe as you two would play and play and play. You might have been my cuddle bug as a baby but you became Daddy’s boy in a blink of an eye.

  

  Now you are nine. NINE!! We still have our occasional battles: your room, your school work…but you have become such a great kid. You have compassion. You are incredibly honest. Your prayers bring me to tears. When you laugh and bounce on the couch during the funny parts of movies I want to eat you up. You are an inspiring encourager to your soccer teammates along with having astonishing energy and a positive attitude that has made the boys, coaches, and parents all love you. I am in awe of the grace of God. He is filling in the gaps where we as your parents fall short. Because of this, I am reminded continuously that you are God’s and we are just vessels – we are not your everything. Thank goodness we are not your everything. I know these next nine years I am going to have to learn that lesson over and over. That you belong to God not to me….which brings me to my commitments.

   

                 

    9 Commitments to You on your 9th Birthday

  1. I commit to acknowledge on a regular basis to you and to God that you belong to Him. That your purpose on this earth is to honor and to obey HIS calling on your life even if it is not what I would choose.

  2. I commit to seek God’ face as I make decisions that effect your life and your future again remembering that my desires might not always line up with God’s plan for you.

  3. I commit to encouraging you to listen for the voice of God.

  4. I commit to work harder to listen to you; to let you know I value what goes on in your thoughts and in your heart.

  5. I commit to teaching you  to love the poor, the outcast, and the orphan. I believe its a calling that God has placed on all of His people, but I believe it is especially true for our family.

  6. I commit to loving your Daddy.

  7. I commit to praying for your future wife.

  8. I commit to recognizing and pointing out the positive that I see in you over the negative.

  9. I commit to laughing more and frowning less because I want you to carry with you memories of a happy Mama.

  I love you Camden Bailey.

   

                      

  • 11:21 pm
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