Josh and Janey are here in the USA to attend my sister's wedding on May 22nd. It is Janey's first time to visit the States, so she is all excited about seeing snow for the first time. She will be my sister's Bible Bearer in the wedding, a role that I think she looks forward to, since she had always been "type-casted" as the flower girl (she was my flower girl during my own wedding when she was two years old). Janey's the zaniest and craziest little girl I've ever met. She's fun-loving, friendly, quick, smart and just over-all charming. She can be graceful if she wants to be, but for the most part, she loves running around and being carefree. I've also seen her caring and potential "big sister" side, as she looks after the kids who are younger than her. She loves to tease me and she loves to tickle her uncle Rupert. We retaliate by telling her that we might not see snow now because it's beginning to warm up. She usually behaves after that.
If Janey's the crazy one, Josh is the complete opposite. He has become much more composed and reflective. I see in him by brother's mannerisms, like the way he stands, crosses his arms in front of him, or just tilts his head. He is beginning to sound like my brother too. He has grown much taller than me, but he still has an awkwardness around him, which I think is typical for a teenager. He's at the stage of life where he doesn't know where to fit in - he's much too old to hang out with Janey, but much too young to hang out with my parents. He has always been cognitively more mature compared to other people his own age though, so he ends up spending time with the adults. Which is fine with me, because even though he is capable now of abstract thinking, he is still quite very impressionable - ample teachable moments that can be impressed upon him which I hope will give a lasting imprint. He asks intelligent questions and we try to answer them as diligently and as specifically as we can. He and his uncle Rupert hit it off very well, as they share one passion quite deeply - that is, guitar playing. Josh had already bought his "dream guitar" and is intensely attached to it. I hope that he will continue to cultivate that passion because I've seen how helpful it is having a hobby that you're really good at be your go-to activity. (Rupert, for example, always resorts to guitar playing when he's stressed, which is a very healthy outlet.)
Most of all, I enjoy seeing Josh and Janey relate to one another. Even though they can drive each other nuts sometimes, the big brother -little sister connection is so clear cut that neither crosses it. Janey can tease Josh all she wants but she knows that he's still the "kuya" and therefore needs to be followed. Josh, on the other hand, still helps Janey out when she's stuck and always looks out after her, and is quite protective of her.
As you can probably tell by now, I love these two kids. I pray that they will always be the same lovable people when they grow up, and they will continue to mature emotionally and spiritually. I pray that they will remember that they are loved by their parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts and cousins. I pray that they will continue to grow up in a loving, touching and Jesus-centered family. Most of all, I pray that they will remember that Jesus loves them first and His love is everlasting, even if our love for them fails (which I also pray wouldn't).
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
No comments:
Post a Comment