40 Days (Day 2)

I'm not quite sure what these 40 posts will look like, but tonight's post comes as a result of the special evening I just had with my Rex.  One of the things I have hoped for as a part of my birthday celebration is for a little one-on-one time with each of my children.  Tonight, I got 20% of my wish.

In the fall of 2001, just a month after our country mourned, Hoffbeast and I rejoiced.  There was still a great deal of collective sadness, shock, disbelief, and fear, but in our little apartment, on Shadyside Drive in Louisville, there were tears of joy.

The test said yes.

We would be parents.

And 9 months later, along came the baby who has grown into an amazing 11.5-year-old boy...and who still has my heart.

So why the above picture?  Well, every mother loves watching her babies sleep, and I am no exception.  The added bonus of the Christmas lights and the peace that settles on a home the night before the Babe's birth is celebrated just makes this all the more right.

I love Christmas.  And while Jesus was the. very. best. gift of a baby ever given, my Rex is right up there.

Tonight, on our way home, I told him that I truly felt like I was the most blessed mama ever, to have been chosen to be his.  He corrected me:  "Well, Mom, don't forget about Mary..."

Okay, you're right.  She was more blessed.

But still.

When we left the play we had seen this evening and got in the car, our conversation went from zero to awesome in about 60 seconds.  One of my favorite things about Rex is his ability to communicate clearly and to connect pieces of this with pieces of that.  If you know him well, you know what I mean.  If not, you'll just have to trust me.  So tonight, without getting into all the details of the conversation, basically we were talking about how the walk of faith is one where over the days and over the years, we get to see more of the "new creation" that God has made us into move from the inside to the outside.  We change and are made new, but we are also changing and being made new.

And his question...."Mom, do you see the new man coming out in me?"  "Oh, sweetheart," I easily replied, "I see more of the new man all the time.  Every day, God is growing you.  Every day, you are becoming more of the young man He designed you to be."

It's a privilege, I tell you, to be his mama.

We held hands during the play.  Someday, sooner than I might like, he will be holding hands with some other girl.  But for now, he's all mine.  <3

I love you, Bunch.  So much.