Snow Day

Yesterday morning we awoke to snow falling and blanketing the ground... It was the first time it had snowed since before Clay and I were married; it was the first snow of Clayton's life. But what made the day so special was not actually the snow... it was my family that I enjoyed the snow with. Without Clay and Clayton, snow is just snow; with Clay and Clayton, snow is making memories-- building a snowman, snowball fights, staying warm and cozy together in the house... If I were alone on a snow day I suppose I would feel more isolated than excited, more cold than warm, more bored than entertained... Clay and I laugh that the old cliche saying, "you double your joy and half your sorrow" with family is actually very true.

Here are some pictures of our snow day:

Clayton looking out the window at the falling snow


I absolutely love that grin


Everyone says he is starting to look more like Clay every day

The smallest snowman Clay has ever made

The snow almost covered the ground for a couple of hours

Funny Things

A few pictures from some funny things Clayton has done lately:

Enough said

Uh oh... I think he might be flipping a bird

He gets as stiff as a board when we hold him up in the air

Sons

I recently read these words on the blog of a family friend and they touched my heart. The writer is a mother to five boys, and writes about her role in their lives as they grow into men. She is worried about her son's safety as he ventures out on his own for the first time.

She writes, "...and then I remembered why he was given to me to begin with-- to give him to the Lord... He is not here for me. He is not here for me to hold on to. No matter how much I love him, if I love him, really love him, I will raise him to let him go. And rejoice in that releasing."

She goes on to quote a godly man she heard on Christian radio about the mother/son relationship: "When your son is little you are BIG in his life. As he grows you should become smaller and smaller and smaller. You will go from big in his life to small in his life. This is good. This is right... Begin to make that transfer in your mind... begin to release your fingers that are tightly holding onto his hand... don't be a hindrance in him reaching manhood... be an aid."

I pray that the Lord would use me as an instrument in Clayton's life-- to show him the Gospel as I relate with him on a daily basis, to train him, to build him up, to empower him to become a man.