Jorie's Birthday

Today our firstborn, Jorie Lynn, is 32 years old. So how old does that make us, her parents?? I hate that about our kids' birthdays - their getting older means we're really getting older. But her birthday holds such special memories for us. We had wanted a child so desperately, and then when she arrived right in the middle of the Christmas season, she was the most perfect gift. It was so easy that year to imagine the Christ child in the manger as we sang the Christmas carols and gazed at our newborn daughter.

This year we're enjoyed for the second year in a row the gift of having her and her family live just down the street. I was able to bake her a cake, babysit the boys while she and Mark enjoyed dinner out, and then Jim and I could be there to enjoy a little family party. It is still a sort of miracle to know that God entrusted her to us to nurture and raise, and now the joy continues as we still share in her life with her own little family.

Growing up Jorie was our child who enjoyed music the most. She was in a community children's choir, the high school choir, took voice lessons, participated in voice competitions, and also took piano lessons. Though she never was thrilled about having a birthday so close to Christmas, she HAS enjoyed celebrating her birthday by attending Christmas concerts. Last Saturday (as a birthday gift to Jorie) Jim and I treated Jorie and Mark to dinner out and a Christmas concert performed by Tribute, a local women's trio. Tribute has been performing Christmas concerts now for 10 years here in Cedar Rapids. They have become so popular that by mid-October tickets for their shows are usually sold out. We made sure to purchase our tickets as soon as they were available, and then enjoyed the concert together last Saturday. It was fun to be out with our kids and begin the Christmas season in such a festive way.