Josiah

I took some pictures in Indiana, but there was one picture that remains only in my mind. My camera was separated from me at the crucial moment. We spent our last Monday with some friends who live near a river. We walked down a very steep, long hill to the river, and later went back the way we came. I am 42 years out of shape. (I sincerely say that embarrasses me - shames me.) The trek back up the hill was not easy. Nancy lagged behind and whined for me to wait for her, to pick her up. Working with my goal not to raise wimps, I told her to keep walking, that I wasn't going to go back for her. She began begging, then crying loudly. My friend assured me that the neighbors had heard this kind of meltdown before - from her own little girl - so I fixed my resolve to require of her what she thought she could not muster.

In the meantime, Josiah told me that Nancy was crying. I told him that I knew and that she would be fine. He pleaded some more by pointing out how far behind she was. I assured him some more. His heart melted anyway, and he walked back down the hill, took her hand, and walked the rest of the hill with her. It was such a sweet moment! I really, really wished that camera weren't out of reach.

Flip side
Michael and Elizabeth bought a house on 3 acres just weeks before we visited. A sizable portion through the woods was overgrown with weeds. Three of our boys (with occasional help from Nancy) set out to "weed whack" through the overgrowth. Josiah was surely Chief Whacker. He literally worked for hours out there, enduring heat, poison ivy and stinging nettles. I didn't get any pictures of that either=(

One More Thing
Since March 2007 Josiah has owned four pairs of glasses. His vision is very poor, so they are a necessity. The fourth pair is missing and has been for at least three days. We have looked and looked, including pawing through a week's worth of trash. I have been asking God to show us where they are. If you would join us in that petition to the Omniscient God I would be so happy. (And if you have any suggestions for how to prevent this in the future, please share. Remember Josiah is not your typical child when offering your advice=)

These pictures are not recent, but they capture of bit of his multifaceted personality.