Delight

I am a stickler for correct pronunciation.  Maybe it's the teacher in me, but I always feel compelled to correct someone when I hear something being pronounced incorrectly.

Except when it comes to my kid(s), apparently.

Yesterday Jonathan began correctly pronouncing "Brown Bear."  Until now (almost 27 months of age), he has been replacing the "R" in brown with an "L" sound, which is both amusing and endearing.  Most people would probably be quick to applaud their child's correct pronunciation, but I've been enjoying this mispronunciation so much that it saddened me a bit...after all, it had been a token, if you will, of his remaining babyhood.

While there is a part of me that looks ahead to the future in anticipation (e.g. when Jonathan learns to read, when Abby is able to go on piggyback rides, etc.), there is an even larger part of me that wants to preserve them, just as they are now, forever.

Like when Jonathan calls his favorite snack "aminal crackers"...

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...or when Abby's face completely lights up when we are being silly...

Photo credit:  Augustine

...or when Jonathan randomly puts on his shoes and a backpack and tells me he's leaving to go to school (his only concept of "school" so far is that it's where his daddy goes every morning)...

...or when Abby furiously gnaws on her itty bitty fingers...

...or when Jonathan plays with the guitar picks his Uncle Joe gave him...

Yes, he is strumming the guitar on his robot shirt...

...and uses them to play his plastic toy guitar (while singing songs he learned from the radio)...

...or when Abby sits on our bed like a tiny queen on her throne...

"Farm Boy, fetch me that pitcher..."

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I take delight in my kids through these different ages and stages.  They don't have to do anything particularly amazing or funny for me to love them.  I simply love to marvel at who they are and what they do.  I take delight in them and who they are right now, just as they are.

I am reminded of one of my favorite verses -  Zephaniah 3:17:


God's reminding me that He too delights in me (and you!) through all the ages and stages of my life.  I don't have to do anything particularly impressive or noteworthy for Him to notice me and love me.

He takes delight in me right now, even when all I see are the areas in which I need to grow.  Even when I mess up, lose my temper, or lose patience...

He takes delight in me.

All because I'm His.