Malachi; my firstborn, the child I prayed for, the one who made me a mommy for the first time.
I decided when I bought this ornament that we would always buy an ornament for each child we had every Christmas and we would make it a special tradition for our family.
Who knew that we would have 5 children and almost a full tree within the next 17 years? ;D
It has been worth it and our tree is full of memories and love. It might not belong in a Home and Gardens magazine spread for the season, but who cares?
So, here is a picture of his first 5 years of ornaments all displayed in a line on the tree just like a train. :D
It does make me twitch a little when my OCD kicks in, but I just try to focus on another part of the tree to distract myself. ;D
Where did the years go?
How did they pass so swiftly?
My baby has become a young man right before my eyes. It sometimes seems like it happened in the blink of an eye.
As we get ever closer to the college years, I am so very glad we began our ornament tradition. One day we will be able to hand these ornaments over to him for his own family tree.
When I think about how hard it will be to give him up, so to speak, to live his own life, it only reminds me of how much harder it must have been for our Heavenly Father to give up His own Son knowing of the suffering and death He would experience because of our sinfulness!
The Hope of our Future rested in the Baby Jesus!
And that Hope is the ultimate reason why we celebrate this season and why I love Christmas more every year!
It can be so very hard for a mama to "give up" her baby to live his own life, but from experience I can tell you that the season to come is so worth the letting go. And those Better Homes & Gardens magazine spreads can't even begin to compare to the beauty you have created in your home with these memories : )
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