Lessons from the Fourth Year

If you have not followed this series of reflections on parenting through my first 5 years you may want to start by reading this post . There are also my post on the first year and the second year and third year if you are interested.
I have spent time thinking about this year in Jake's life. This was a hard year for me both with my health and with parenting Brady. You can click on the second year link above to see what God taught me this year. Even as I write this my heart is full of joy and sorrow all at the same time. Jake is such a blessing to me in very specific ways that often get overlooked by his very strong brother. He has such a tenderness about him but yet longs to be so strong and manly. His personality very much is a combo of a lion and lamb and I so often take it for granted. He has a few specific struggles that I so often get wrapped up in "fixing" that I often don't take time to see the strength and good in this precious child. Sometimes I feel like I am so hard on him and that I expect to much from him. I am learning as I go with him and I pray that God allows him to just remember the good and not the bad. I am so grateful that the burden of him loving Jesus is not on my shoulders. You will read more about this in my next year post but as I look back on this year of his life I am so thankful for a sweet precious boy who is becoming a tender warrior mostly not because of my doings but because he has a FATHER who is thankfully more committed to Jake than his momma could ever be.