My Samuel. . . . Happy 3rd Birthday!

Dear Samuel,

I remember well the night you were born.  You made me work hard for it, but all of the sudden it was over.  It was as if you wanted to make sure the timing was just right, your debut into this world was perfect.  The testimony of healing that you carry is powerful, and as you speak to me every day, I am reminded that the Lord healed you and gave you life.  He is such a good Father. 

You are becoming such an amazing little boy. You wear your heart so fully, and I am inspired and encouraged to see it. You love completely- your brother, daddy, and mommy. You say such amazing things. Just now I woke you up from nap and you said you wanted to go downstairs and play with brother. And in the van today, you said you wanted to tell me a story.  "Mommy I want to tell you a story.  Me and Brother went down the driveway to get a ball and then we came back up.  The End."  Fantastic!!  You go to Sunday School class with brother, and you love being there with him. You adore playing outside, and you don't even mind who is out there with you most of the time. Your heart is growing in depth every day,even as your pants are getting too short, and your words are forming into ones given by the Father.

My favorite thing about you lately is hearing the songs that are growing in your heart. You love to sing Misty Edwards, "You shall love me, You shall love me" and WaterDeep, "OH Israel, trust in the Lord" OR "He will come, He will come" over and over again. There may be nothing playing, or there may be other music playing, and yet the song that is in your heart will come out through your mouth. "This is the Day" is also heard often in our hallways. You, my child, are a singer and I love seeing it day in and day out. What a beautiful and sweet voice you have.

I hope you had an amazing birthday. You have talked about playing at "Mr. Richee's house" since we got home from MN, so I figure you aren't too upset that mommy spent the first part of the day welcoming Baby Sister Miller into the world. You two share a birthday, isn't that fun? You loved your Lightening McQueen cake and Gordon the train engine that you got. You couldn't stop talking about both of them for quite some time.

I love you sweet boy.  May you continue to grow in love and wisdom- learning the heart of the Father and the words of his heart, that you may share or sing them all the days of your life.

Mommy

The 4-1-1 on the Harrigan Fam. . . (is that right?)

Anyway, I have like a hundred pics that I have been wanting to post about all the non-adoption related, and yet terribly interesting fun we've been having around the Harrigan house these last several weeks. SO, this is like those 2 minute, get you up to date with the headlines kind of blog. :)

1. We have used, and thoroughly enjoyed, the new wood stove installed last May. With high temps near 0 this past week, it has dramatically helped. (though if you are in the basement very long, it is not nearly as pleasant down there!!!) Either way, fire is fun for little boys, so there was much grandeur involved in building the first!



2. Bethany's bedding has been purchased and put in the room. It is incredibly cute, if you ask me, and Benjamin helped put it all together! We had a blast talking about and praying for our new family member on the way.



3. It has snowed here. A lot. See below. :)



4. Our dear friends Andrew and Lydia Faith got engaged this past week, and though Andrew is overseas for a year, they plan to marry in GA next Spring! Whoo hoo!



5. This just in. . . . Samuel is really cute.



6. On another note all together, Daddy Harrigan decided to go for a midnight sledding adventure with four other friends. Really?? Wow.



7. On a final note, we have a video from mostly Samuel, though I had to tie Benjamin down to not jump into the fun. We have family devotions most nights, and Samuel has formed a definite opinion now about his favorite song, "This is the day."



Goodnight and goodbye!

Growing Samuel

Okay, so my last post was about the growing one I call Benjamin and this one is about his brother. Sweet Samuel has really taken to his daddy lately. We all (at least any of you who have been around us at all) know that Samuel has been fully attached to his mother's hip from the time he was born. He has no problem connecting with me. He has however, had a harder time with his daddy. Benjamin and John hit it off from the start. They also spent quite a few days together as I was teaching school. And Samuel definitely loves being with his daddy, but he has lately taken a new affinity for him. It is much fun to watch, and I get to see what it is like for a daddy to woo the affections of a human heart. I know that there is such a thing as "prevenient grace." I learned it in some wonderful "what it means to be a methodist" class growing up- the idea that the Lord is desiring our hearts before we even turn to him. That, as we are still sinners, not even recognizing there is a God, He is wooing us back to Him. We come to him, repent and believe, and spend the next months and years of our lives amazed at his care over us in that time. I have seen it over and over-- the heart of the Father displayed to unbelievers.



¹⁶ God so loved the world that He gave His only…Son that whoever believes… (Jn. 3:16)

⁴⁵ Makes His sun rise on the evil and the good…sends rain on the just and unjust. (Mt. 5:45)



So, I know all this in my heart and I am watching my son. Samuel is being wooed by his father. He used to come to me when he was tired and sad. He wouldn't go to anyone else. He would hold my leg until I (and only I) picked him up. If John tried, he would proceed to voice his discomfort, loudly I might add. This past weekend John was gone to a conference and we missed our favorite day of the week, Saturday, because it's "not a work day." It's a daddy day. Since we missed it we were going to do all kinds of fun things, but one of them included calling daddy. This picture is of Samuel talking to his daddy on the phone. I tell you this, he was ENGAGED. He listened intently to what his daddy was saying so he could respond and interact with the one he longed to talk to. I was amazed. And then today, he was fussing and holding my leg as he does sometimes and daddy came over to get him and rather than turn his head away and cry louder, he actually giggled and went running to his daddy. What an amazing testimony. That after months of playing and laughing together his heart learned who it can turn to in times of hurt. My Samuel has been wooed by his daddy. He runs, plays, talks, and loves him without a second thought. Daddy can kiss the bumps and bangs just as well as mommy. Tonight when I left for a meeting, I got a kiss and hug, but not a tear was shed. (except maybe by daddy, heehee) My baby has grown so much in love for a father that fought for his heart. He won't ever turn away. They trust he has for his daddy will never falter.



What an amazing testimony to the heart of the Father in heaven. He is so good to our hearts, he seeks us out, woos us to him. And when we turn to him in trouble instead of running away, His arms are so much stronger than any other we can find. He will hold us tightly- as long as we will sit still. I pray this over my boys as they are wooed by their heavenly Father, that they would see His heart every day in their daddy's. We are truly children, adopted heirs in the Father's kingdom.

the life and times of my samuel

I thought this was an absolutely hilarious picture. For those of you who read and are far away, I felt it was an appropriate view of the personality that is coming out in my little one. He spent much of his first year sad, but we have moved into a much larger range of emotions. I'm not even sure what this one is, but he had squished himself into a pplastic container that had once held spinach. How funny is that! You can see his brother behind him trying to work it out, and though he did eventually make it, Samuel was the originator.

Samuel the Great

So, just a quick note. Samuel has come into himself a bit this past week and I thought I would share with you our newest dilemna. SO, parents near and far, how does one deal with the climbing tendencies of a young one who so very often gets up there and suddenly begins to yelp for help as he is so completely (and obviously) stuck????



I missed the first place he was stuck that afternoon, but several minutes after I took the second shot, his brother had taught him how to get out of the slide predicament. Just go down!! Yeah for big brothers-

So, we have jumped into talking. All the sudden he started saying "uh-oh" as clear as day. He has also adopted mama, dada, and we are working on bobo (brother). As with my oldest, he makes the jump incredibly quickly. We are just hoping to have lots of words before we see the speech therapist in September! I am reminded as quickly as I begin to think about it, that the Lord is a healer. He healed Benjamin and I immediately, and He healed Samuel. Fully. Without a doubt, I will stand on the promises of the Lord and will again be amazed at His goodness to us. But really, how cute is that? "Uh-oh!"

Fun in the mud

So, here we were this afternoon, not having all that much to do. Daddy wasn't coming home at the normal relief time, since he's in Minneapolis. We decided to have some fun and though I should have probably changed him into something less cute, or at best removed his shoes, he had an amazing time! I have been fighting him out of the mud for the last week with all the rain, and today we all cut loose! We played, had baths at 5:15, ate dinner, read books and were all in bed by 8. It's an all out record when daddy's not home. Oh well, I thought you would all enjoy-

Church this morning. . .

We had a great service this morning. Well, at least I am pretty sure we did. Samuel attempted to go to his class for the second time and we just didn't make it more than about 10 minutes. I must say, I love that I go to a church that calls the mommies. There are at least 5-10 mommy numbers that pop up on the screen every week and it makes me feel much better to leave my children in hands that understand the power of the mommy. I call it the mommy factor. We didn't really see this factor come out in Benjamin, more often than not we still see the daddy factor in our eldest. But not in sweet Samuel. Sometimes no one else can ail the saddened heart. No one else can make it better, and for some reason, no one else can understand how sad he is except for mommy. I know, I'm the last to admit it, but I love my boys more than life. I always thought that mommies with crying babies had it the hardest. I am beginning to see that there is something powerful in the connection I have with my son. I have envied after that connection between Benjamin and John. I have loved watching it grow and develop. I can't wait to see how Samuel and I grow in love as he grows into boyhood. But for now, I will take him back into church with me, sit eating peanut butter crackers, and know that for the moment, Mommy was able to make all things in the world right again. Someday this too will pass and hopefully he will cling to the One who will truly make all things in the world right.

Happy Birthday Samuel!

Well, though the day is actually tomorrow, we had a fantastic birthday party this past weekend. It was the first day since last fall that it was warm enough to be outside for extended times. What fun! We had lunch on the back porch, all the kids played, we had cake, opened a few presents, and then blew bubbles. What more could one want?

Thank you Lord for this precious life. You brought him forth and you have predestined him for great things. We only hope to be a part of what you are already doing!

P.S. Thanks NaeNae for the great pictures!