And now he's 10!

From the time he arrived in this world - one week late, he has been the source of so much laughter.  My middle son who is an amazing child of character, strength and perseverance. His name means - "the one who perseveres".  He has the courage of a lion, and a heart of a lamb.

He ALWAYS has food on his face - he LOVES food!

Food, food, glorious food!

 

The sweetest deep sleeper and always the last one to wake up in the morning!

 

Always scratches and bruises from all the monkeying around.

 

My precious boy

 

He likes to look cool and sometimes takes it a little far:)

 This was a white shirt 2 hours before this photo

 

Cool dude

 

Look at those eyelashes! Such a handsome fellow

 Toothless

 

Always one of the boys - dirty, and full of mischief

 

 He ADORES his dad, much to my dismay (and envy) and I have to fight for time with him.

 He loves compassionately.  My gentle giant.

 

Skateboarder! Or at least trying to be one.

 

Our Nipper's Champ!

 This child could stay in the water until it literally froze over! 

It's been 10 memorable years and such special, precious moments.  I love to watch him grow.  He truly is a blessing to me!

Everything you could possibly need

I am going through a very challenging season at the moment.  I feel like every aspect of my life is under a magnifying glass, pressure points are being exposed and I have felt very resentful and irritated with life.  Then I found this gem today and I felt like God just turned my face from looking at my circumstances to Him. 

This is a devotional by Max Lucado:

"Are you hoping that a change in circumstances will bring a change in your attitude? If so, you are in prison, and you need to learn a secret of traveling light. What you have in your Shepherd is greater than what you don’t have in life.

May I meddle for a moment? What is the one thing separating you from joy? How do you fill in this blank: “I will be happy when ________________”? When I am healed. When I am promoted. When I am married. When I am single. When I am rich. How would you finish that statement?

Now, with your answer firmly in mind, answer this. If your ship never comes in, if your dream never comes true, if the situation never changes, could you be happy? If not, then you are sleeping in the cold cell of discontent. You are in prison. And you need to know what you have in your Shepherd.

You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need."

Max Lucado
From: Lucado Inspirational Reader
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2011)
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website