Eden Lael

(So does "I'll be back tomorrow" mean, "I'll post another blog entry before I go to bed tomorrow"?  If it does, than I so made my deadline. 

I hope that's what it means.)

Birthdays are precious.  They mark a day in time, and each year we celebrate it's anniversary - the anniversary reminding us that life is a gift and that this particular life is special to us.

Our kids begin their day with banners and balloons, mini M&M pancakes, and their birthday song,  (Si's is Birthday by The Beatles; Edie's is Happy Birthday by The Innocence Mission.)

This year our girl turned 3 and, being the very big three-year-old that she is, was helping in the kitchen.  Each M&M was carefully and methodically placed. 

Her birthday party will come later; we opt for the quiet of home on the actual day, so her day continued on simply, filled with family stopping in and the little things our girl loves: a trip to the store, time outside, tea parties, chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese, melon, and of course cake and candles - the only thing she said she wanted for her birthday this year.  (Did we luck out or what?)

I cannot believe I've been a mom for three years.  Am I old enough for that?  Wise enough?

It felt like it would never happen.  After 9 months of pregnancy and planning and 17 hours of labor, I couldn't wait to meet our daughter, to hold her, to see the face of the child that I already knew. 

Photo by Kenna.

And then, just like that, she was born: Eden entered our world on July 9 at 7:45 p.m.  And for such a tiny person, she sure took up a whole lotta room in our hearts.

Jon and I do not wear the label "parent" lightly.  We believe these littles, these precious souls that sleep under our roof, have been entrusted to us.  But they do not belong to us.  They will always belong to the One who dreamed them up.  The One who formed them and shaped them as they grew inside of me.  The One who painted them with personality and tendency and weakness, unique little people that grace our beige home with color and life.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother’s womb...
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.

Psalm 139.13,15,16

Photo by Kenna.

Photo by Kenna.

Photo by Meiks.

And so we named her Eden Lael:

EDEN (EE den)

(Hebrew)

Paradise; delight.

LAEL (LAY el)

(Hebrew)

Belonging to God; of God.

a daily reminder that she is His garden and that we have been trusted to weed and water, prune and plant, to enable her to grow and become who she was created to be. 

Thank Heaven indeed. 

Our lives would be incomplete without you, Eden.  We love you so.  May our Good God always be delighted with you and may you always be delighted with Him.