The difference a year makes...

It's hard to believe that tomorrow you will be year old! It seems like only yesterday that we were anxiously anticipating the day you would make your advent to this world, crying and screaming and perfectly awe-inspiring. Now, a year later, it's hard to possibly imagine life without you. You have stolen my heart, much in the way that your mommy did five years ago.

How can you be so perfect, so incredibly amazing? You bring us a joy the is indescribable and incomparable. You pour so much life into us with each laugh, each cry, each new sound, every movement. Whether you're clapping your hands, flipping over your tongue, packing peas into your chubby cheeks, giving me a far too slobbery kiss, or connivingly crawling toward Shiloh's toys, you make us different people, better people, more joyous people. You give us hope for tomorrow in the midst of a world that all too often seems hopeless. My heart simply melts when you roll and kick your soccer ball with me, when you giggle uncontrollably as I throw you in the air, when you reach for my nose, and grab my glasses off of my face. I can hardly stand it when you babble, rolling your r's and "speaking in tongues" when I'm upfront during worship.

It's hard to remember what our lives were like without you around to make us laugh and smile, to stop our hearts in their tracks, to help us understand the love of God more perfectly. I'm not really sure I want to remember. The beauty of each new day is enough and far more than my simple mind can capture.

So, on this day, one year save a day, let me say Happy Birthday, my precious, beautiful daughter! I love you more than I could possibly find words to express. Thank you for the blessing of being your daddy! (Now, stop growing up so fast! I don't know if my heart can handle it!!!)