Look who's ONE!

I’ve decided that 1 year old seems a lot older with your first baby than with your 3^rd. Compared to Anya’s independence and Ethan’s near-independence, Isaac hardly seems out of the baby stage. Of course Chad suggested having another baby so we could see exactly how much Isaac has grown, but I think I’m going to pass on that one right now!

One year ago we were stuck in the biggest snow-storm to hit Salem Oregon since the 1960’s. We were praising God’s timing in that Isaac was born and home from the hospital before we got snowed in, huddled around a pellet-burning stove to keep warm. We had no house, no jobs, no responsibilities, and a ton of unknowns looming ahead of us. Isaac was a tiny, eating-and-pooping machine.

Now here we are, sweltering in humid, tropical heat in Southern Africa, settled in semi-permanent housing, with responsibilities and a job as soon as we can learn a foreign language, a few less unknowns ahead…and Isaac is just a bigger eating-and-pooping machine, only now the diapers have to be washed out, not tossed!

Isaac is quite content to crawl, for the moment. He’ll stand if he doesn’t realize he’s doing it, and he’ll walk holding onto a hand. He has learned the finer art of screeching when he doesn’t get his way, but his laugh comes just as quickly. He wrestles with his dad and his brother, adores his big sister, and still thinks mom=lunch no matter what time of day or night. He loves smelling flowers and petting dogs and taking walks, splashing in the bath-tub, and riding on his nanny’s back in a sling.

He’s been through such a whirlwind in his first year of life, and he acts as though nothing unusual has happened. Then again, why shouldn’t he rest easy? He’s surrounded by people who love him, he’s clothed and fed and snuggled, he has things to play with and things to challenge him and force him to grow…what does he have to worry about? He’s not having to worry about bills, or stress over decisions, or get a job done, right? He just has to trust us to do right by him, which of course we’re going to do, despite our shortcomings. What a life, huh? That’s almost enough to be jealous about!

But here’s a thought: don’t we have a heavenly Father who is providing us the same stability and love and shelter no matter what life brings our way? The same guidance and direction and nurturing, if we’ll just accept it? So that’s what He means by having faith like a child!