So many things happen. Life is made up of events and happenings; there are happy times and rough times. The difficult moments that test your patience to the max leave you wondering how you could ever forget them in the world.
Time elapses, those stark negatives and intense trials have a way of melting back, and you cling to the positive memories.
It’s like my mom says, “Memories tend to be viewed as better or worse than the actual event.” Whether we choose to view it from a positive or negative standpoint, life keeps moving on.
As you can hear, today I’ve had many churning feelings. As some of you shared, your “babies” are now grandparents. OK, so my baby turned a year old yesterday, and I get this feeling that the days of having little ones in our home are rapidly moving onward. This darling boy was our newborn a year ago.
I wonder what his life will hold, or even more, what our future generations may face. There is only one place where true peace settles in, and that is when I cry out to God for our little ones and their future families.
I then know that God heard, He shares my concern, and He will answer those pleas.
For today, we will relish the sweet innocence of a one-year-old and trust the unknown future to the One who knows it all. Little Joshua is a favorite in our household.
Well, aren’t they all favorites? Yes, they are; it’s just that this stage with the first peek-a-boos, kisses, and patty-cakes charm every one of us. Julia was completely impressed when she got him to take his first steps the week before his birthday.
His way of saying “please” takes the cake. He’ll spot some food that he would like to have and make this little hand motion of rubbing against his chest to say please. It just wins you over. How can you say no?
When he first started letting out these insistent shrieks to get what he wants, I was like, “There must be a better way!” With a bit of effort, he caught onto the sign language for “please.”
The next one we’re working on is, “Thank you.” He gets the concept but can’t get his hand to make the right motion yet. Amazing how you can watch the wheels of his brain spin by observing the look in his brilliant blue eyes.
While he has several words he says, it is mostly in baby talk as he exclaims and points to whatever catches his attention the most.
And yes, Dutch is his first language until he learns to speak English around the age of three or four. Horses rank at the top of his list; there are few things he enjoys more than pony and cart rides, if it happens to be close to nap time, he’s lulled to sleep in no time.
Last night we all got a kick out of watching his eager hands as he tore into the little birthday cake Julia had decorated for him. You can only imagine him sitting in his sassy seat with bean brownie cake all over. There was cake and mocha icing everywhere. He ended it by dropping the last part of the cake onto the floor.
Needless to say, after supper was bath time!
This adorable fellow inherited his daddy’s curly hair. Again and again, I smile to myself as I look at his little head is covered with golden curls. It’s like I tell little Joshua, “I haven’t done a thing to deserve such a curly-headed little boy with fat cheeks!”
So, for today we’ll celebrate all the good and know that each day of the future is made by the One who made you and I!
How about trying our refreshing lime jello salad on this hot summer day?
REFRESHING LIME JELLO SALAD
2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup chopped nuts
3/4 cup butter
1 can crushed pineapple
1 small package Lime Jell-O
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 cup whipped topping
Mix crust ingredients and press into a 9 x13 inch greased baking pan. Bake at 350 until crust is golden brown. Boil pineapple juice and dissolve Jello in it. Cool. In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar. Fold in pineapple, whipped topping, and Jell-O.
Pour into cooled crust and refrigerate until set.
Gloria Yoder is an Amish mom, writer, and homemaker in rural Illinois. Readers can write to Gloria at 10510 E. 350th Ave., Flat Rock, IL 62427.
