Happy 16th Noah!

Noah, today, hanging out with Seth.

It has been a whirlwind of activity around here lately with graduation parties, end of school year, Bible studies and just life in general. We intentionally keep our schedule "easy" and slow, so when these infrequent bursts of busyness come along, we sometimes feel overwhelmed. All the goodness of seeing family, friends and sharing life together is what makes it worthy of the effort.

But today, I wanted to pause and say a big Happy Birthday to the one that 16 years ago diverted our path of pink, bows, baby dolls and girlie stuff onto the tracks of choo-choos, dinosaurs, baseball and Legos. It's seemingly impossible that we now have a young man in our home...yet, it has occurred, sometimes in a whirlwind.

Noah, about 1 year

Noah was our second ginger and as surprising as that was, the shocking difference between boys and girls is one that I think you can't prepare for...you just have to live it. In many ways though, he's probably more verbose and emotionally in tune than many guys, just by having lived, schooled with and been surrounded by four women all day, every day.

Although in some ways he's a typical teenage boy, through the years I've also seen the helpful, caring, protector of women shine forth from this bundle of passion, determination (aka stubborness), loyalty and above all humor. 

There is no one funnier in our family than Noah and his comedic timing has been impeccable for quite awhile. I happily lay claim to his inheritance of my humor, but will also humbly concede that his far surpasses mine. [Side note: Oddly enough, as a parent of teenagers, my sense of humor seems to be embarrassing, while their own makes them all laugh until their sides hurt.] 

At Abeulo's 2013

And that same little guy that literally ran out to home plate for every at bat, even though 90% of them he struck out in his first year of peewee baseball and had every parent jumping up and down on the sidelines with his first hit of the season because of his amazing attitude and determination...

5 years old

has grown into a young man that, if he chooses, can channel that same determination into the adventure of a lifetime just by grabbing ahold of Jesus and refusing to let go.

And that same big brother, who at times can dish out more teasing than any little sister should have to bear, also has a compassionate side with Twitter peeps all over the world that he checks in on, encourages and comforts.

10 years old

What can God do with a caring, determined, humorous, guy who can simply watch a YouTube video and figure out how to fix anything or play music and has a memory that can retain NFL statistics from before he was born?

I honestly don't know. But with that mixed bag of talent, drive, passion and fun...I can promise you it will be anything but dull!

14 years old

I know it's not cool to say this as your Momma...but love you Buddy and so proud of the man you are becoming!