Since we spent most of Gavin's actual birthday waiting for his cousin to be born at the hospital, we had a mini celebration a few days later. Here are some pictures from his party.
Gavin's brothers made him homemade cards. They were so excited about Gavin turning 4 years old! So, as soon as I reminded them that his birthday was coming up, they went hard to work making the perfect cards for him!
I absolutely adore that my older boys put so much effort into celebrating Gavin! There are many people in our lives who seem to forget about Gavin's birthday. It's probably because they figure he can't do anything anyway and maybe they figure he doesn't know the difference either. This kind of makes me feel sad, but my boys definitely make up for it! They treat Gavin like they would treat anyone else and this makes me very happy!
You can see in the picture above what Nolan wrote on his card to Gavin. He wrote Gavin's name and then put words that describe Gavin, by using the letters of Gavin's name. For G, he put "great boy", for A, he put "adorable and awesome" and for I, he put "important." The "I" description really got to me, because I look at Gavin as being important, but I know that many people seem to look at Gavin as just being here and not as a person with a purpose. I was happy to see that Nolan sees the importance of Gavin, because in the broad picture, Gavin really has more to teach us than a lot of people that I know do!
Gavin may not be able to talk, walk or play a major roll in his own life, but his being here creates huge lessons for people to learn. He shows us that we are very blessed and that we shouldn't take things for granted. He shows us that you can be happy, even when life is difficult. He shows us love. He shows our boys the meaning of being caring, helpful and loving to others. And, he shows us that being dependent is actually a great thing! Gavin is very dependent on us, and this has made our family become less selfish and more giving of ourselves. And, it has shown us that we are dependent as well.....dependent on the help and goodness of others and, most importantly, dependent on God!
Outside of our home, Gavin might not be considered by others very often, but in our home he is a huge part of our world! We look at Gavin as an equal.....and sometimes we even look at him as being better than us! Gavin's world is full of love and happiness! So, when his birthday comes around, we really celebrate the gift of him!
We give him gifts that he may not be aware that he is even getting:
And, we make him cake and cupcakes, even though he isn't able to eat them:
And, we gather together and Thank God for the blessing of Gavin in our life for one more glorious year!
Because Gavin wasn't supposed to even live this long! And, we aren't guaranteed another year with him. And, because Gavin is a beautiful boy,
who has feelings and who makes us laugh,
and who gives us a sense of great purpose,
and a sense of PURE JOY!
It may have been Gavin's 4th birthday last week, but we are the ones that have been given a gift!
"Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!" Psalm 68:19
