Can you believe this little baby boy....

....will be ONE tomorrow?!!

I'm about to wrap my little Cooper's birthday present for tomorrow morning.  Our birthday tradition includes cupcakes for breakfast and opening a present.  I thought long and hard about what to get him because the reality is that we have 12-18 month old toys everywhere!  But, I settled for a cute, little car that has a convenient handle on it that makes it the perfect push-vroom-bang-into-walls-vehicle.  Yes, he will be getting a few other things from us.  This is just tomorrow morning's present.

I've been thinking about gifts a lot here lately, actually.  Birthday gifts for Cooper and TJ, Christmas gifts for everyone.  "Gifts" of a different kind.  I have been thinking about the gift of salvation.  The most important gift TJ and I will give our children is the gift of a home and surroundings where salvation is accessible, encouraged, praised and supported.   

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." Acts 20:24

Kind of an odd insert into a birthday post about my son's first birthday but this stuff, however sad, has really been weighing on me. I had a friend who committed suicide years ago and to this day, I wonder if I could have had a larger impact in his life than I did.  I was young in my faith and not quite brave enough to tell him about the love of Jesus, our Savior.  I don't know if I could have played a bigger role in his life or not.  But how selfish of me to not allow my light to shine and to try.  I could have been a light for him, while he made his way through a dark place.  He has been on my heart a lot here lately, for some reason.  And I just pray that I have far more courage each and every day than I had back then.  I pray that if you're reading this and don't know the love of God, that you ask someone who does.  There is no greater love than the love of our God.  No greater grace than His.  It is the best gift you will ever receive.  The gift of salvation.  The gift of Heaven.

Happy Birthday, sweet Cooper.  The gift I want for you just isn't wrapable!  And I praise God for your precious life!  What a blessing you are to us!  Be brave, always!  We love you!