A Bastion Of Birthdays

December and January pour out a boatload of birthdays for time of celebration in our family! Each child is an arrow that fills our quiver and is a part of the strong fortress that we are building in this culture we live in. We count ourselves blessed to continue to be encircled with so many spirited young lives in our household!

A few days before Christmas, Halayah celebrated her seventeenth birthday!  It is phenomenal to think that she can already be that age.  She is growing into an exemplary young lady with masses of potential and excitement and a zest for life.  She is a talented girl with an intense love for the Lord.  Her kind heart is such an element of her strength!

Next came Christmas with our celebration of the gift of the Christ-child with family gatherings and gift giving. We had a blessed time crowding together in our modest home and renewing our family bonds.  We always enjoy our time together in the loud merriment of the moment.

January first brought in the New Year, quickly followed by Unique’s eleventh birthday!  She is growing up so quickly!  It is hard to imagine that she was only months old when she came into the family!  

She is full of spunk and enthusiasm for each new occasion that comes her way.  She is maturing into a little lady, yet she still finds it appealing to dash into sundry diversions with her older brothers.

Less than a week later, Isaac celebrated his twelfth birthday!  For a whole week, he and Unique are the same age, and she doesn’t let him forget it!  You can see that he is becoming a young man. 

His lively zealous antics are slightly beginning to become tempered as he ponders bigger life enterprises. He has a heart full of love and his compassionate side is endearing.  He continues to live up to his name Isaac as he frequently provides some amusing diversion.

Later in January, you can find Jonah counting down the days until his birthday.  He turned fifteen this year.  Again, it’s hard to believe that he can have arrived at this milestone.  He continues to be curious about any sort of fauna in God’s wide creation.  

He always has in his possession some sort of critter in a container for observation.  When he flashes his engaging smile, you can’t help but return in kind.  Quiet and reserved, he is a man of few words, but his love for the Lord is evident.

Bastion. . . the word usually brings to mind a projecting part of a fortification built at an angle to the line of a wall, so as to allow defensive fire in several directions.  

Its second definition is more fitting in speaking of our family birthdays- an institution, place, or person strongly defending or upholding particular principles, attitudes, or activities.  That is how I see our family.  The maturation that birthdays bring, just weaves a little tighter the defense, the principles, the attitudes and the activities that Mark and I through the grace of God, are attempting to continue molding into our family.  May God continue to give the increase! Happy Birthday everyone!