Happy 4th Birthday, Sawyer

Happy birthday, sweet Sawyer!!

My phone just dinged reminding me it was your birthday…as if I needed a reminder.  You are in my heart and on my mind every minute of every day.  At age four, I see you in your princess dress and cowboy boots waving your little hand off to the truck drivers as they pass…I smell the scent of my body spray (that you helped yourself to the last time you were in the bathroom) mixed with your coconut Barbie detangler…I feel your sweet, soft hands on my arms or around my neck and the matted fuzz of pink teddy since he’s always near by…I hear your voice singing “Let it Go” and praise and worship without skipping a beat…

You’re the neatest kid I know!  You’re a little bit of an introvert like your momma, but when you’re with someone you love and trust – you are on!  I feel so blessed to be able to know you the way I do…

I do believe you have the sweetest, most sensitive spirit on the planet!  The way you care for me and daddy absolutely melts my heart.  I love the way you leave water by my bed when you get up in the mornings and you sneak out, so I can have “a little more sleep.”

You care for my heart just as good as your daddy does.  So many nights I have prayed with you before bed and begged the Lord to forgive me where I’ve fallen short and to help make me a better mother and you are always so quick to tell me I’m “the bestest mom in the world.”

You’re so forgiving – you get that from your daddy.  You don’t have a grudging or vengeful bone in your body.  I can recall several occasions where you’ve gone to bed and hours later called us back upstairs because you felt bad about something or were afraid you hurt our feelings somehow or felt the need to apologize about something.

You care for and protect your baby like his second momma.  And?  He adores you, sweet one.  He wants to be just like you, I know it!  Daddy and I love to see you hold his hand and help him down stairs and feed him his snacks.  He’s a lucky boy to have a sister as wonderful as you.

I love your creative mind!  You absolutely blow me away when it comes to imagination and resourcefulness!  I love to watch you sort through the trash in daddy’s pickup to find something to block the sun or gather his old pop cups to make a vending machine in your play kitchen or the way you tape a box to the back of your pedal car to make a trailer to haul trash in.  Seriously, who does that?!

Your memory astounds me; it is truly a gift!  You remember names and places and things we’ve done better than I do.  When you tell a story, it’s specific and succinct and accurate.  I love that you can get us to Denver (or get us home) almost better than I can!

I love the way the world is drawn to you.  You’re like this cute, curly-haired magnet that just sucks people in!  I’m sure I’m a bit biased, but I’m also a keen observer and I don’t see this with other people as much as I see it with you; everywhere we go, people want to come make conversation with you or say hi to you or give you gifts.  You have the ability to affect the world for Christ just by being YOU…people see Jesus radiating out of your sweet little face, it’s true.

You have the heart of a worshiper; a little David.  Some of my favorite times with you are when we just sing to the Lord as long and as loud as we can.  I love when I hear you singing in the other room, expressing your love to Him the way you know best.  Sugar, He loves to hear you sing…

I love that you love all things girlie; the bigger the bow, the fluffier the ruffles and the sparklier the shoes, the better!  But you also know how to work and you definitely aren’t afraid to get dirty.  That will serve you well…

You have made the past four years the best four years of my life, no doubt.  On your fourth birthday, I bless you in the name of Jesus!  I bless you in your coming in and going out; your lying down and your waking.  I speak to your future and I pronounce it blessed!  I bless you with rich relationships with people who point you to Christ.  I bless you with good health and a long life.  I bless you with humility and forgiveness and grace and mercy that is as endless as you give it now.  I bless you with obedience, that you would follow the Lord all the days of your life.  I bless the work of your hands, that all you would set them to would prosper and bring glory to the Lord.  I bless you with a continued love for the word of God and I bless you with His abiding presence in every way, in every day.

YOU are who I want to be like when I grow up…and you? You can stop growing up any time you’d like…