Benjamin's 4th Birthday Letter

Dear Benjamin,

Apparently 2014 was my year for late birthday letters. Joshua's birthday letter was late and now I'm writing yours almost two weeks after your birthday. Hopefully I'll do better this year!

My sweet, sweet son, you are four! I can hardly believe it. You are such a joy to have in our family. You are so kind and sensitive. You respond quickly to correction and often apologize without being asked, which is a blessing to me. You love to snuggle with your mama and tell me often that you love me, and you still say "yuv" instead of "love" which is pretty sweet. I know you'll grow out of it someday, so I'll enjoy it while I can! You do have a little bit of a mischievous streak, though, and you just love to pester your older sister; you like to bug Joshua too, sometimes, but Katie definitely bears the brunt of it.

Sensitive though you are, you are still all boy to be sure. You love superheroes. Your favorites are Captain America, Batman, and Spider Man. You got hooked after we watched The Avengers together as a family this fall. You got action figures for Christmas and a Captain America dress-up outfit for your birthday. But of course, your love for cars hasn't lessened any and that's what you spend most of your playtime doing. You've rubbed off on Joshua and y'all have a great time playing cars together every day. He may actually be a little more obsessed than you are.

Of all my children, I think you are the neatest. You don't always clean up without being asked, but when I ask you to clean something, you pretty much always do a good job and you usually don't complain about it. You also concentrate really hard when you're doing something, whether it's organizing your cars or putting a puzzle together.

You are very rarely at a loss for words.You talk a mile a minute to anyone who will listen, children and grown-ups alike. It's amazing to me how well my four year-old boy can carry on a conversation with an adult. You've always been ahead for your age with your speech and vocabulary, but it really took off over the last year. You also have a great memory. Over the past couple of months you and Katie have been memorizing Psalm 1 and you're doing such a great job with it!

In recent months, you have been asking me more questions about the things of God, expressing concern for your soul. You seem very soft to God's word much of the time and I'm so thankful you are thinking about these things even now.

The older you get, the more you keep looking like your Grandpa Dale. The resemblance is truly amazing. It makes my heart happy that you are named after your daddy and look so much like my daddy.

My sweet Benjamin, your smile makes my days so much sweeter. I am so grateful for the time I have at home with you being your mama. I so often fall short, but you just keep on loving me anyway. I am so thankful the Lord gave you to our family. I pray that you will be converted as a young child and be faithful to the Lord all your days, that you'll grow into a strong, godly man and lead a family in advancing Christ's Kingdom. May you be zealous in your love for the Scriptures and diligent in applying them to your life.

I love you so, so, so, so much, my son.

Happy birthday!

Love,
Mommy