Jack Joe

Jack turned SIX today! He was born at 1:52 pm in College Station, Texas. The thing I mostly remember about his birth is that I so badly wanted him to have his own birthday. I contracted all day the day before and prayed and prayed as we celebrated John's second birthday that this little one would wait...and he did. I also remember that my regular doctor was on a ski trip (hazards of having Christmas babies I guess) and I met the man who would deliver Jack just hours before. Brad was wearing a Camp Ozark t-shirt and the doctor (in about his late 50's) ran home during lunch to grab his Camp Ozark home movie his mother made when he was a camper there. He rolled in a tv and vcr on a cart for me to watch during the birth (hazards of working at the incomparable Camp Ozark, I guess).
I wanted this one to be a boy so badly. There was just something about having two little boys that thrilled me. Unlike before, we had decided on his name way before we made it to the hospital. I have always loved the name Jack (it never bothered me that it was a surname for the name "John"). I loved how it sounded with Hoeksema. Poor Jack, he came out of the womb with numerous nicknames...like, Jack Jack, Jackie, Jackie Joe, Jackity Jack, Jackster, Jackster Mackster, I could go on. I almost always call him Jack Joseph. I love his middle name. It is a Hoeksema family name and my dad's first name.
It used to be pretty hard for Jack to go to sleep at night. He has always had an endless amount of energy and he would get out of bed a lot. We pray for him every night when he gets into bed and some time ago he asked me to pray that he would have "no dreams". My response? "No way! I won't pray that for you! You are Joseph...the dreamer!" Not only did Joseph in the Old Testament have dreams and visions...he actually believed them! He acted on them and when times got tough, he went back to what he knew God had told him in his dreams. I pray Jack will always have dreams, dreams that amaze him, dreams that speak prophetically about the kingdom of God. AND, like Jesus' earthly father, Joseph, he heard the Lord and acted on it.
6 Random things about Jack:
1. He is so bouncy. On the court, field, backyard, whatever...he is bouncy, like Tigger. He is so full of energy and life.
2. He is a friend to the forgotten. (Sounds dramatic for a 6 year old, I know). He has many friends, but he is also so quick to befriend those little boys who are new to school or church.
3. He memorizes music lyrics like no one I have ever known or heard of. He can sing the words to most songs on the Christian radio right now and he loves to sing in church.
4. He was mad to wake up this morning and not be taller.
5. He has very odd food habits for a six year old...he loves soup of any kind, black beans, nachos, he loves chai latte from Starbucks, and this morning he asked me to make him some hot tea before school.
6. He is joyful. I pray he will always find joy in the little things, and grow up to share his joy with others through Christ.