Today my baby turns 6 years old. He actually hit the official mark just a few short minutes ago... 6:46am. No one in the house is awake to know that but me. I've slept very little... kind of reminds me of 6 years ago when I was awake in labor all night long. This wasn't that tough, thankfully, but a long night nonetheless. My baby is 6... and he's going to spend this day sick. He started running a fever late last night, and I've spent most of the night listening to him struggle to breathe in the monitor. We'll have to cancel our 2 parties. Not sure what we're going to do with the 3 cakes I baked, or all of the food I've made, or the 70 drinks on ice, or the goody bags for all of his friends that he won't get to see today. But, even without what we'd planned, and how I had anticipated this day being, he's still 6.
I wanted this to be the best birthday he'd ever had. And so there's that part of me just really frustrated that he's going to miss out. But I know that this is also an opportunity for me to demonstrate our family's love for him. And that even in the midst of illness and disappointment, we can choose joy. He's been learning about joy during the month of April. Joy means "choosing to be happy even when things don't go my way." To be honest, I'll be the one who struggles with joy today more than him. I've been the one running like a crazy woman for the last week, and battling my own illness on little sleep, to give him his dream day. But, now's my chance to live out what we've been teaching him over the past 3 weeks. Things aren't going to go our way today. But, we can choose to be joyful in the midst of it. We can make this day as much fun as possible with a high fever and nasty congestion. Because we have each other. Mostly, because we have Jesus. He is enough to give us joy beyond measure. And we will celebrate the last 6 years of his life that have brought me the most joy you can experience on earth.
So, Happy Birthday Caleb! I love you more deeply than I could ever express to you, and you have filled my heart with joy each and every precious day of your life. You will never really understand how God has used you in my life to teach me so much about who He is. You are a blessing, an amazing little boy, and we will celebrate your life today... with 3 cakes!!! I love you!
