Benjamin

Benjamin Foster Brackett- born March 30, 2006. I remember being pregnant with Ben and thinking he was going to be my sweet baby Ben- I think because Jay was just over a year and a handfull :) Benjamin is sweet in many ways. He is all boy for sure- very athletic, covered in bruises and scars and loves the outdoors. He is a great helper for Chase outside and likes to get his hands dirty with his daddy.

He also is very, very smart. He will "officially" be in 1st grade this next year but he is doing 2nd grade math, is reading at a middle school level, and would be bored stiff if he were in a traditional 1st grade classroom. God knew what he was doing when he had us homeschool these crazy boys!

Ben for all his toughness can be very sensitive and intuitive. He asks great questions and likes to know how things work and what makes things and people tick.

Ben has stated on more than one occasion that he wants to be a pastor. We'll see what happens in the long run but as his teachers in his Bible Study Fellowship classes would say- he is tender towards the Lord. I love doing BSF work with him because his understanding of scripture and the thoughts he shares show the Holy Spirit is working on his little heart and I love that. Benjamin did accept Christ when he was four and his faith is growing.

In this first picture he is holding a Shel Silverstein poetry book. He mistakenly calls it his joke book- I think because it makes him laugh and he gets Shel Silverstein's humor. Plus there are funny boy things in there like boogers and dirt and what boy wouldn't get a kick out that!

Recently Ben saw a little white New Testament bible in his folder with his name printed on it in gold lettering (I have a folder for each kiddo with ultrasound pictures, cards, and other special items and the kids love to look through them).  Our friend Jodi Thorp gave him this bible when he was baptized. Anyway, he asked if he could have this little bible and I initially said no, I wanted to keep it in his folder. White, clean, tidy, unsmudged, a keepsake....Then I thought why?? Why would I not let him have this treasure?  What good will the little white bible do in a folder?  Where the pages can't  be  turned and the red words of Christ can't be read? A book that shows God's grace given to the smudged and dirty and untidy. 

Now he has another bible he uses to study from but he saw this one and it was special, it was his, it had red words in it, he wanted it and so I said he could have it.

And here he is with it. He loves it! He reads it. And of course isn't that the goal?  Maybe the white cover will one day not be so white and the pages may be worn but the red letters of Christ will still be there. The owner is the same- a little dirty, a little bruised, but Christ is still inside. So when I see Ben's bible, I won't see the little bible so much as I'll be reminded of my son and the Son who died to save him and I will be grateful.