Savannah Jo – SEVEN Months!

Savannah Jo:
I like you this size. There’s something perfect about your double chin and dimpled knuckles. Your silky, alabaster skin has yet to experience the effects of spending too long playing in the backyard on a summer’s day. A cartoon band-aid has never graced your kneecap. You know nothing of bruises and scrapes and pain. You’ve never stubbed a toe or experienced a bee’s unexpected sting.

When I rock you to sleep, as your eyelids slide shut and you curl into my embrace, I’m overcome by yearnings for time to stand still. If only you could stay this little, I could protect you forever, right? A paternal instinct to shield you from all harm has rushed over me like a tidal wave. And yet, I am only human. I will not be able to shelter you from all.

Savannah, your dad and I wish for you to know above all else the “joy of the Lord”, which Nehemiah spoke of. You are growing up an imperfect world; one, which has been marred by sin. There are times when grief will creep past your outer shell and prick your heart. There will be occasions when you will fall short. In those moments, we pray you will know happiness unrelated to your current circumstances. We pray you will know a joy springing forth from deep inside of you, implanted by God. Nehemiah teaches that this particular joy gives you strength – a strength, which can overcome all.

Baby girl, you are known for your smile, and may it forever be so. When you experience the cracks in life’s armor, the Lord will continue to give you reason to beam. As Charles Spurgeon so eloquently wrote, the joy of the Lord is “the contemplation of God to one who knows that this God is his God for ever and ever” and “is enough to make the eyes overflow with tears, because of the deep, mysterious, unutterable bliss which fills the heart”.

We also pray that you would be a person of faithfulness. We challenge you to be true to your God and in your earthly relationships. May your heart be a place where the roots of God’s Word can grow deep, bearing much fruit. May you have the faithfulness of Noah to live justly in an unjust world. May you have the faith of Abraham to follow when the future is unclear, believing that God can fulfill his promises. May you have the faithfulness of Joseph who knew that God had not forgotten him, even in the lowest of places. May you be faithful even after your mistakes, as Moses was.

And lastly, we pray that you would be a person of love. First, that you would “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”, and we pray that love would overflow to a love for others as well. May you truly see those who are less fortunate and may your heart be touched. Love fearlessly and recklessly. Let the love in your heart cause you, like David, “to dance with all your might” uncaring of how undignified you may appear.

We love you and it will be our honor to love you forever and point you to the one who loves you even more than than we do.

(written for your upcoming Dedication this Sunday)

Your “Firsts” this month:
Easter
piercing your ears
getting (TWO) teeth
pink eye (twice)
swing

daily grind…Getting ready to pierce those ears!The deed is done! Loving our new blingThis is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24Battling pink eye and two teeth poppin, but that can’t keep us down!Just the nightly milk coma. Date night at the K!We make our own toys here!The Mullikin Crew on our very first Easter together! The girls 🙂Decided to match with her boyfriend 😉

Too much excitement for one morning!Loving on Grams at BrunchJust studying up for the big Opening Day game The Crew waiting for Dad’s return… More toys! Time to invest in a pair of sunglasses!Two peas in a pod. Love our time with Dad every night! Bristol PJ’s! She looks real ready for bed, huh? Sneaking up on Bristol…shhhh!So, this T-shirt is sized “12 Month” – maybe we need to lay off on the bottles, haha. Every day is a good day to wear another dress! Date with Daddy at the Plaza!  Tickle time 🙂  My perfect sleeping angel And we’ve started using the “Selfie” camera to encourage crawling!  Let’s go Boys in Blue!  First Royals game this season!  Didn’t take long… Learning photoshop already And this is why photographer moms must edit at nighttime Dada, where are you!?!? Bringing fancy back… First time in the swing was a smashing success! Cousin Lovin Too cute! Out touring a wedding venue with Mama #takeyourdaughtertoworkday Somehow they have become best friends… Rubber Duckey, you’re the ONE!!!Jammin Mama chopped her hair off!Found an imposter in Kasey’s room!