How Quickly they Grow…

Zayne turns 8 in an hour…

60 minutes…

Could I ever have predicted how much this name we picked out (all those years ago) would change into something so heart-wrenchingly beautiful?

He is so precious to me.  A world of priceless treasure just handed and bundled in blankets and I knew it even then.

Tonight, I had to grit my teeth just so he wouldn’t see me cry.  Me, the ever-sentimental Momma.  The receptionist at the doctor’s office asked how old my children were.  I said, “5 and 7″ without thinking, but it hit me on the drive home…today is the last day I’ll be able to call him “7″!

And so my eyes fill with motherly tears; my heart aches like it will burst with the weight of it all and I know how frail and human I am.  It would be so easy for me to be crippled by this instead of continuing on.  Children I love and want to freeze in time because they are the most beautiful thing this side of heaven..oh, how I could live a thousand years and still not drink my fill of them!

But he grows, as we all do, time passes and we have no choice but to grow.  This is beautiful too, isn’t it?  This growing and changing has to be embraced.  It is the honor of my life to be able to see how he morphs from a baby into a boy with love and joy to give to all.  He burns with things unexpected and there is such a satisfaction to simply watch him unfold.

As you grow, my Zayne, I want you to know I cherish your every second.  Not one moment has been lost to me.

The time to come…the time that’s passed…all of it; every bit, the joy of my life.  I wish I could explain how you delight me at every stage!

And this is precisely why I am sad about such good things changing.  It is because they are so good.

And this is exactly why I am thrilled at your growth.  It is because all of you is so good.

Oh your mommy loves you, my zany 8-year-old!