🥳Yesterday was Gavin’s 17th Birthday🥳
From the day he was born he’s been teaching me things, starting with patience - since he was eighteen days late (yes, back then they let me go that long.)
Having been a teacher, I was ready to teach my kids but was naive not to think about how much our kids teach us. And I’ve learned so much from my kids.
Gavin has taught me what it looks like to be a quiet strength, to be loyal, and to speak with purpose. As the middle child, he is the bridge, a peacemaker, one who brings calm to storms that arise.
One of the greatest things I’ve learned from Gavin is to listen to the quiet ones. They may not say a lot, or say it loudly, but their words need to be heard as there is such value in hearing their perspective.
I share this today to celebrate Gavin and our middle, quieter children. I invite you to join me today to…
pause. breathe. pray.™
May we give thanks for all we learn from our kids and for the middle, or quieter, ones. May we honor who they are and meet them for who God made them to be. May we see what we can learn from them, and their ways. And let’s remember that patience is learned, sometimes wisdom whispers, peacemakers are a blessing and words are powerful, so let’s choose them wisely, as Gavin has shown me.
Happy Birthday to Gav! I can’t wait to see what I learn from him this year.
With love and hope,
Shawn
Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. - Proverbs 27:17