A Birthday

The last few days I have been trying to publish this post and Blogger was not letting me upload pictures. Finally, it worked!

On Monday a little boy, Judah, turned 2 years old. He is dear to me, not so much for who he is, but for who his parents are. I have spent very little time with Judah and yet hours with his parents.

I met Matt E. in April 1999. In order to make an extremely long story short, we met, became good friends almost instantly, he went to college, met Dawn and fell in love with her, introduced Dawn and I, and now she is the dearest friend I have outside of my family.

Jaclyn and Matt in January of 2001-

a picture taken after we had been laughing hysterically

Dawn is amazing. Her constant friendship the last 7 years (give or take a few months) has been none other than a gift from God. I've posted sappy things about her before, so I will spare you too much more of that. :-)

So, on Monday she celebrated her son's birthday. Me, well, I celebrated Matt and Dawn. It has been a wonderful journey to be apart of and watch from, sadly, a distance. I will never forget the excitement in her voice when she called me exclaiming, "I'm pregnant!"

Many emotions flooded my heart and mind. Dawn, pregnant!?! It was amazing and impossible at the same time. This girl had giggled with me about things girls discuss, shared hard times, admitted faults, rebuked me in love and we had talked about everything under the sun. I had been engaged and unengaged before she and Matt were even engaged. And we had shared it all. Laughter and tears.

Now, she was going to be a mother.

We began talking pregnancy, morning sickness, body changes, labor, delivery, parenting, sleepless nights, nursing, hip pain, doctors appointments, baby names and hormone shifts.

Jaclyn and Dawn- May 2006

Dawn and her first-born son, Judah, when he was but a few weeks old.

Dawn and Judah a few days before he turned 2

Now she has TWO sons, has been married almost 4 years, has moved several times and was able to visit Colorado once! She is an amazing wife, mother, homemaker, sister, friend and follower of Christ. I admire her in more ways than I can even begin to count.

And Matt, well, who knew it would lead to this after meeting 9 years ago? (NINE!) He has been a constant friend through some very hard times. He is a godly husband and father. I respect him very much and it only grows more as the years pass.

Matt, Judah and Elijah!

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Judah!

And, well done, Mom and Dad E. May your children arise and call you blessed because of your love for the Lord. May your home be a light for Christ. May those around you give you honor because you are people who love Him! May your home be full of laughter, mercy, generousity, faith, love, purity and Godly offspring (at least a few more...)!

Love to you all!