Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

Dear Grandma,

Today is your day!

I wish our family could be there to celebrate with you. While it would be a bit noisy and chaotic with four kids five and under, we would love to share in the festivities.

My wife and I are in the middle of a phase when our children change so quickly. It seems like they learn or do something new everyday. Things are always changing around us.

But when I think of you, I see an example of faithfulness.

You are a polio survivor. You and grandpa raised three children - one of whom has Down's syndrome. Various situations caused you to move numerous times in your lives, often at times when it became increasingly difficult. You've faced many forms of adversity throughout your life.

Yet, your faith hasn't wavered. You continue to put your trust in the One who is faithful. And doing so has allowed your face to radiate with God's faithfulness.

Since I've known you, I've seen that come out in your selflessness. You played endless games of Monopoly and Payday with me when I was growing up as if there were nothing more you'd rather do the whole day. And you've always taken such joy in gift-giving.

These days it comes out in the cards you create and send by mail regularly. We frequently receive envelopes filled with the newest family pictures wishing us a Happy Spring or 4th of July. None of our 6 birthdays get left out either. You also signed up for Facebook and Skype around the same time we did so we could stay in touch.

We are so thankful for you, Grandma. Your selflessness and faithfulness are an example to all of us. And they are characteristics that I would love for our children to embrace.

I'm sorry we can't be there to celebrate with you today. While there would constantly be a swirl of activity around you during your celebration, it would be fitting that your presence would be in the middle of it all.

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma! We love you.

The Faucet

Now the oldest brother was more crafty than any other offspring of the home that the Bohall Family lived in.

He said to the little brother, "Did daddy actually say, 'You shall not touch anything in the yard'?" And the little brother said to the oldest brother, "We may touch any of the toys in the yard, but daddy said, "You shall not turn the handle of the faucet that is on the side of the house, neither shall you touch it, lest you be sent to the naughty corner."

But the older brother said to the younger brother, "You will not surely be sent to the naughty corner. For daddy knows that when you turn the handle your hands will be skillful, and you will be like daddy, able to fill the swimming pool."

So when the younger brother saw that the faucet was good for drink, and that its red handle was a delight to the eyes, and that the faucet was to be desired to make one powerful, he turned the handle and drank and he also gave some to his little sister who was with him and she drank. Then the senses of both were heightened and they knew that they were wet. And they took off their clothes and made themselves naked.

And they heard the sound of daddy walking in the yard in the heat of the day, and the younger brother and sister hid from the presence of daddy among the pine trees of the yard.

But daddy called to the sister and said to her, "Where are you?" And she said "I heard the sound of you in the yard and I was afraid because I was wet, and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were wet? Have you turned the handle of the faucet I commanded you not to touch?" The sister said, "The brother whom you allowed to play with me, he gave me the water of the faucet, and I drank."

Then daddy said to the little brother, "What is this that you have done?" The little brother said, "the oldest brother deceived me and I turned the handle."

Daddy said to the oldest brother, 

The fact that you have done this, shows that you are devious. To your room you shall go and no lunch shall you eat until after your quiet time. There is enmity between you and your younger brother and between your younger brother and your sister.

To the younger brother daddy said,

Your shame is multiplied when you persuade other children to do wrong. Your desire is to please your brother but when you are convinced to disobey he shows his power over you. You shall go to the naughty corner. 

And to the little sister daddy said,

Because you have listened to the voice of your brother and have turned the handle of the faucet of which I commanded you, 'you shall not turn it', you shall be separated from your siblings for the next half hour.

The sister called her brother's name Ian, because that's what her parents named him. And daddy brought dry clothes down from their room and clothed them.

Then daddy said, "Behold my kids have become like us, knowing how to fill the pool. Now, lest they reach out their hand and also open the gate and be free of the yard -" therefore daddy sent them inside the house and separated each of them from one another. He put the little brother in the naughty corner and put a lock on the gate that would be difficult to turn in order to guard the way out of the yard.