Zechariah...

 I thought I might share a few thoughts about Zechariah since his 6th birthday will be here in a few days.  When I think of Zechariah, I liken him to large boulder. Not merely because of his size (and strength!) but because of his will.  He's hard to move.  At the beginning, this strong willed little man, at times brought frustrating tears to my eyes.  As the Lord does, He used Zechariah to show me many things about Himself.  His wonderful patience!  How the Lord has graciously changed this little bundle of will.  He is still full of strong will...but I see now the effects of bringing that will under the commands of the Lord.  Zechariah is one that is not easily moved from doing what is right.  He is certainly not perfect, but I can trust him with so many things.  He has chores that I know he will do on his own.  He can do his homeschooling work a lot of the time by himself.  When the boys are all playing outside, I don't need to worry that the younger brothers will be in too much trouble, before Zechariah intervenes...and sometimes comes to get me.  He is also a "thinker".  When I say thinker, I mean thinker.  Sometimes he will have a focused look in the middle of a meal and you can just see the mind remembering something or figuring something out.  Then he will pop off with some connection he made on his own...."Dad, your mom is Grandma Karen, and Grandma Karen's mom is Grandma Ernie". We affirm he is correct.   He will ask questions about things I hadn't planned on him even  understanding to ask.  He definitely takes after his Dad in this.  Grant is able to think a thought through to it's logical conclusion...at times, Zechariah is already learning to do this.  We are blessed by his desire to read the Bible to us (with his own real Bible) at morning devotions...and of course this prompts Isaac to want to read some too.  Zechariah also finds delight (as well as Grant and I) in "preaching a sermon".  He will set up the bar stool and set his Bible on it, pray, lead a song (usually "Joy to the World") then read a bit out of whatever he turns to, then finishes with another prayer.  Of course this prompts the other brothers to want to do this too!  What a sweet time! 

So after the first years of trying to bridle this strong will for obedience to us as parents (ultimately the Lord), what a joy and blessing Zechariah is to our family! Of course none of us are perfect and daily we all need reminding and correction, but with God's grace, we can already see the beginnings of a great leader...perhaps not in the world's eyes, but in the eyes of all he will have influence on,Lord willing, his own wife and children. 

"Behold children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward."  Psalm 127:3