This post is a little different...
No funny or enlightening quips from the Javster... yet (he's still asleep after his late night "partying")
Today Javik is 6.  It's hard for me to believe that.  I recently saw a quote that said "the days are long but the years are short."  How true that is!  As we are living day in and day out, doing "life" and whatnot, my son is growing up.
This boy that changed my life by making me a mom.  So this post isn't about him... it's to him:
Javik,
Happy Birthday buddy!  It's so unbelievable to me that you are already SIX years old.  In some ways that time has seemed to stand still, as I've watched you grow & learn so many new things.  In other ways, those six years have flown by!  I can blink my eyes and be sitting back in that hospital room, holding you as a newborn baby, wondering how in the world Daddy & I were going to take care of you!
Thinking back over your year as a 5 year old... Wow!  It was a big year & you learned SO much!
You started school.  The beginning of a routine that will take you through your school career and right out into the world.
You learned math!  I watched you go from counting numbers & objects to understanding addition and subtraction.  Skills that you'll use for the rest of your life.
You learned to READ!  So crazy!  I watched you begin to understand letter sounds and how they fit together, then begin to recognize words and sound out others.  And just last night, I watched you read an entire joke book, all by yourself.  (Even better:  you understood the jokes!  Which, by the way, I love!  Very few guys have a sense of humor like yours!)
Academically, you're a success!  I never had a doubt that you would be.  You've always be so smart and curious.  I love the way you want to learn how things work and why they work, and what to do when they don't.  I'm amazed at the way you remember everything you hear & read & see!  (It also comes in handy at the grocery store when Mommy can't remember what's on her list!)
But Jav, the greatest moment of your 5th Year came in November, when you gave your heart to Jesus!  A day that we have prayed for, over you, every day since you were born.  Our prayer for you is, now that you belong to Jesus, that you would live for Him.  Every single day.  Dad & I will continue to pray that God would work in you & through you, and that you would be the greatest Man of God of your entire generation!  You are a leader!  You are strong and confident and so smart... God made you those things.  Use them for Him!  Love Him and follow Him, always.
I pray for you as you now enter your 6th year... that this year, God would grow & nourish your relationship with Him.  That you would continue to read His Word and navigate through it, memorizing verses that will carry you through the years ahead.  I pray that you will ROCK 1st grade.  That you will continue to love learning, and love reading, and soak in all of the things that your teachers have to teach you.  I pray for your friendships.  Those guys that you are becoming "BFFs" with... that you will be sensitive enough to build genuine friendships, and strong enough to withstand peer pressure.  That, even at 6, you will be a light in the darkness that is the world, even the world of 1st grade in a small town.  Shine for Jesus, dude.  Let Him speak & act through you, so that your friends would get to know Him too.  And I pray that you would have FUN!  Love life!  Your laugh and your smile is contagious.  You make this world a better place.
Every day I am thankful for the amazing blessing that you are in my life.  And I am incredibly humbled & thankful that God has seen fit to give me the privilege of being your mom!
Happy Birthday Javik Nolan!  You are one in a millionty-bajillion, and I love you!
Love, Mom