Lillian is growing very well and changing before our very eyes. It is truly amazing to watch. I'm pretty sure Sullivan laughs his head off watching us sit on the floor with Lillian, coaxing her to grab toys, roll over, sit in the Bumbo seat "like a big girl" and to perform her latest trick--buzzing her lips at us. Hilarious. I look at Lillian and I can't imagine her talking to us or running all over the house, but I know she'll be there before we know it. I read somewhere that "the days are long, but the years are short," and so far I concur with that wholeheartedly.
On to the main point of this post.
Three months has been a really fun age so far. She is much more engaged and a lot more responsive to us, which makes all the difference in the world. I think that this is especially true for Thomas. In the past week or so, I have noticed an amazing change in their relationship--one that he noted as well. Now, Thomas has been a great dad from the very beginning. He has done countless diaper changes and outfit switches; he has rocked her to sleep and soothed her as many times as I have. He has shown her off to his family and bragged on her "accomplishments" to his friends. In short, he has cared for her, loved her and taken pride in her. But this week he has truly started to delight in her, which is something different altogether. It has changed the way I read verses like Zephaniah 3:17 (which is incidentally our "theme" verse for Lillian).
"The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Delighting in someone is part of loving them, but it's so much more than that. I see it in the way Thomas rushes through the door after work, looking for Lillian, ready to see her burst into a happy grin at the sight of his face. Ready to watch her bat at toys in the activity mat and arch her back like she's going to roll over. Ready to watch her look at the pages of the books we read to her. Ready to buzz his lips at her 5 times for every 1 time she does it back to him. Ready to press a kiss into the downy yet spiky hair that covers her head. He looks at her and loves her in a way that is entirely new. It is completely overwhelming to me to know that the Lord delights in us in the same way (obviously more though). And it's not because we've done something amazing or that we're so skilled but just because we are His. We don't delight in Lillian because of her accomplishments--a pretty small list at 3 months, 1 week and 3 days--but because she is ours and we made her.
Watching her grow and change and develop is an enchanting, joyful process, and I can't wait to see where we go from here.
Ashley, I have known ever since Thomas was a little boy that he would someday make an awesome dad, but it is so wonderful to see firsthand that knowledge become a reality and to read these words written by his beautiful, articulate wife and mother of precious little Lillian. May God bless you with many more years together as a family!
ReplyDelete