Drake Adam

Six years ago today, I was coming out of recovery from an emergency c-section and meeting my tiny, 4-lb-15-oz-17-inch baby boy for the first time. It was about this time of day, too - early afternoon - when I first laid eyes on my sweet baby. He had been in the world for almost two whole hours by the time I finally met him, and his daddy had done a heroic job of keeping nurses with bottles of formula away from him - and oh, how they had wanted to give him one because of his tiny size! He had already had his first tub bath (given by Daddy), and was patiently waiting for his first meal from Mama with those alert and snappy dark-blue eyes. His features were so tiny and fine that he looked like a little doll. If ever there was a "button nose," his was one!

I was exhausted from labor, still a little groggy from the general anesthesia, and in great pain - I had no epidural to carry me through for a few extra hours. Every slight movement brought a sharp pain to my incision, and it seemed even lifting an arm somehow engaged my abdominal muscles, which were freshly closed with several layers of stitches and 21 shiny staples through the skin. All I really wanted to do was sleep. But here was this miraculous little bundle! Could it really be? He was alive! Healthy even. And he was all ours! He was tiny and perfect, and he looked at me with those knowing little newborn eyes.

And I have been hooked, ever since. Hooked on this little person who grips my heart like no other, who brings me unending joy at every new turn, who sometimes disappoints, and often confuses me. Drake is now all about shooting and destroying and battling! If it can be climbed, shot, swung around, or thrown, he wants to do it! But in a certain frame of mind, he displays great tenderness and care toward the underdog, the young, the victim. He especially cares for his baby brother, and has a conscience that is easily pricked. He is excessively energetic and silly, and he can be the extreme daredevil, but he's often afraid to go new places and try new things. He is a very "touchy" person, just like his daddy.

What a privilege it is to be a mother! To be awakened countless times each night to feed and change a newborn; to show a little person how to eat, to walk, to talk. What a responsibility to raise a child - to teach sharing, respect, kindness, compassion, honesty. I have never known anything so fulfilling, and yet so daunting.

And Drake is the one pulling me along on this exciting journey! He is so completely average, and yet so miraculous and amazing! It is my joy to watch him grow and mature, and yet to try to hold on to the memories of his precious babyhood.

There is no one quite like our Drake! My daily prayer over him at night is that he will grow in his understanding of God's glory and God's love (for him and for all people), that he will love the Lord with all his being, that he will understand and embrace the truth, that he will love others unconditionally, and that he will be used mightily by the Lord.

We are now one-third of the way done raising our son - a sobering thought - and we pray for wisdom during the next two-thirds!

Happy birthday, my dear son! You are amazing, and we love you beyond words. What an incredible six years these have been!