What I Want To Remember

There is no other way to say it than this, we are in a difficult season of instruction and discipline with Jonah. Yes, he's 2 1/2 and there are stereotypes of what a 2 1/2 year old is supposed to be like. But, we aren't giving him any excuses. He has an amazingly sweet heart and is so teachable and malleable. So, we are trying our best to be diligent in our responsibility to train our little boy to know and love the Lord and to walk in his ways. Yet, this season is difficult. Thankfully, we have a few friends who have been such an encouragement to us - ones who have seen the fruit of their instruction and discipline in their teen and pre-teen children and one who is right there with us in the trenches fighting the battle (from a spiritual perspective)!

I hope that we come away from this season of life with things we have learned and, prayerfully, with a boy who will grow to walk with the Lord, but I don't want to think back on this season only remembering the constant instruction, the repetitive discipline, and the frustration that comes when we forget the reason why we are doing what we are doing. I want to remember the amazingly sweet heart our Jonah had at 2 1/2.

This is what I want to remember:

+ that he LOVES people. It doesn't matter their age, their gender, or their cognitive level - Jonah loves them. At our church, there is an elderly MR man. Every Sunday, Jonah runs to the door to shake his hand and say hi to him. This is completely unprompted by us, and this man enjoys seeing Jonah. He says to us every week, "Your boy likes to shake my hand." What a joy to us and to him!

+ that he LOVES greeting time at church. Jonah will go around the sanctuary shaking hands with everyone...even if his hands are sticky from a sucker.

+ that he can sing all three verses to Before the Throne of God Above and will correct me if I make a mistake on any of the lyrics.

+ that he is very social. We had people from church over for lunch on Sunday. During a lull in the conversation, Jonah tried to start a new conversation by saying, "My favorite show is SuperWhy!"

+ that he LOVES having people over to our house. If he knows people are coming over, he will stand at the door to greet. This past spring when I hosted a Bible study, Jonah stood at the door welcoming everyone into his house. It gave me the freedom to continue getting ready or to talk with the ladies who were already there.

+ that he seems to think he belongs with the teens at church. A couple of weeks ago, I watched him follow two teens into the youth room for Sunday School. When I went to get him for his class, I found him sitting on one of the chairs waiting for the class to start. This week, he was telling the teens about our new minivan and was pushing one of the girls around in a wheelchair that belonged to another one of the teens.

+ that he was so excited to wear his first stick-on tattoo last weekend and went around showing it to people calling it his "tat" even though we had never referred to it by that slang name.

+ that he has overcome all of his fears of playground equipment. He will slide down the tallest slide and go across the unsteady bridge. Last night, we ran into friends at the park that is kitty corner to our house. It only has a couple of swings, a jungle gym, and a merry-go-round, so we don't go there very often. But, he wanted to play there with his friends (a 7th grader, 3rd grader, and 1st grader!). He climbed to the top of the jungle gym - it was only as tall as me, and he rode on the merry-go-round STANDING UP!

+ that he thinks we live in "Kenbraska" (Kentucky+Nebraska)

+ that he calls two of the girls that have babysat a few times "cool."

+ that today when I came home from work, he opened the door to the garage to see me and exclaimed, "I have a special song for you!" Apparently, he had been waiting for me to come home all day so I would play a certain song for him on the piano.

+ that he is super ticklish and has the best giggles (and occasionally even a snort) when being tickled!

+ that he tries to delay nap and bed time as much as possible and will often yell, "I want to tell you something" just as we walk out the door. If we stop and ask him what he wanted to say, his response is usually, "I love you."

+ that he loves to listen to any kind of music and seems to especially like a song by David Crowder called "Our Love is Loud" as he often requests it.

+ that he LOVES the Berenstain bears and often says he lives in Bear Country and wants to go visit "Gramps and Gran." He also thinks he needs to go outside "bearfoot"  because that is how the Berenstain Bears do it.

+ that he is learning to hide God's word in his heart and is excited to recite the scripture he knows.

What a blessing Jonah is to us! That is what I want to always remember.