Good morning, Dear Siestas! We are still under reconstruction but it is taking longer than we hoped so we’re reopening comments until we get the heads-up that the switch really is about to take place. Thank you for your patience! I especially want those of you who have just now gotten your books and read your first three segments to be able to comment. Look back at last Thursday’s post and jump in there with us. Also expect your second week’s assignment tomorrow.
I wonder if I may beg your indulgence to be shamefully focused on one little person today. After all, I entered one of the happiest seasons of my life four years ago today. I’ve got a letter stirring in my heart that the recipient is way too young to read and probably won’t even see when he’s grown. We’ll have bigger fish to fry then. And if his Paw Paw has anything to do with it, those bigger fish really will have scales, slime, and fins. Still, a letter, because I can get some big feelings off my chest all the same. So, with your patience…
Dear Jackson Curtis Jones,
Today is your four year-old birthday! Yahoo! This is one of my favorite of all days! I have a few things I want to say to you, young man. Things you should be glad that I’m saying in print instead of in person since I’d probably bawl my head off and you’d find that pretty confusing. It will be a long time until you understand happy cries and, as the man you’ll surely one day be, you’ll probably never like them. All the same, you’ll have to put up with them to have women in your life. And, boy, do you have some women in your life. Mommy, Annabeth, Nana, Aunt Melissa, Aunt Lindsay, and me for family starters. Goodness knows, there’ll be more. Your mommy told me not long ago that she thought ahead about you getting your heart broken by a girl one day and got mad at her without even having a clue who she was or what she looked like. Woe be unto her. That’s all I can say. All six of us will be on her like mad, scratching cats.
But, back to today. Thank you, Jackson, for bringing a baby back into the life of someone drunk on babies. Thank you for reciprocating the happy love I felt for you by reaching your plump little hands out toward me by the time you were four months old. Thank you for a wild enthusiasm for life that has awakened every soul in your company. For things like pumping your fist in the air after we said “Amen” to grace over burgers. Jesus loves that. I’d also like to thank you for naming me Bibby. I just love it. Who would ever have thought of such a name but you? Thank you for saying it so many times. Thank you for being the reason why I found an old purse in the closet the other day that had a pull-up in it. (A clean one, thank goodness.) It sure has been a while since you needed a pull-up, hasn’t it? Mommy is so happy about that.
Thank you for bringing me a world of Hot Wheels and for teaching me how to race and how to make sounds like motors. Thank you for the love you’ve engendered in my heart for your lizard named Bernie. Thank you for bringing “Fruit by the Foot” back into my cupboard. For innumerable rounds of hide and seek and for the memory of the first time you really did count to ten before you said, “Ready or not! Here I come!” Thank you for giggling so loud wherever you hid that I always knew where not to look so we could make the game go a good, long time. Thank you for loving to be at Pappaw Keith’s and Bibby’s house here in Houston and at Nana and Pappaw Steve’s house in Missouri. You are a boy who has loved his grandparents and we are all four so much the better for it.
Thank you for the carseat in the back of my SUV and for crawling into it so often. Thank you for loving music and telling me to “turn it up, Bibby!” and for specially requesting David Crowder. Thank you for all the theological insights I’ve gained from your interpretations of the Bible stories your dad tells you. Thank you for wanting to grow up to be just like him and for actually putting it to words. He is a giant in your eyes…and in ours. Thank you for being firstborn to my firstborn. For making expressions that look just like her when she was your age. Thank you for thinking she’s so beautiful. I do, too. Thank you for helping her discover that she was really wonderful at something she’d never aspired to as a girl growing up. She actually planned to take care of animals. Not children. I will always find great amusement in the fact that yours was the first diaper she ever changed. To say you have changed her life in return is the biggest understatement we could make today.
Thank you for being the best big brother ever and to what is sure to become the next in a line of consummate drama queens. She adores you. She’s tougher than she would have been without you. And that’s a good thing.
Thank you, Jackson, for four of the most exciting, love-flooded years of my life. You, like your Mommy, your Aunt Melissa, your Sister and your Pappaw, have shoved your way into my every conscious thought.
We have waited all our lives for you, little Man-child. You were worth every second of it.
Happy Birthday, Jackson Jones. I’m playing hooky from work to play with you today. Let’s go buy a swing set!
I love you,
Bibby
~Truly Tina~ 
Happy 4th birthday sweet Jackson. May you always bring your mommy and Bibby such unmitigated joy!
Yes!
Beth Herring
Beth,
How well I remember four years ago. You were speaking here in Birmingham, soon after Jackson was born. They put his picture on the screen and your face beamed with pride and joy! You even sat down on the floor of the stage and just stared for the longest time. No doubt, you were smitten!
Loved the letter.
Happy Birthday Jackson!
This made me tear up. The love you have for him is just awesome!
Happy Birthday Jackson!!!
I echo every word our sweet Lisa (preacher's wife) said. Amen and Amen.
Happy Birthday Jackson!
Oh, Beth…. What a touching letter! It brought tears to my eyes…happy tears, of course. 🙂 Jackson is blessed beyond measure to have such a loving family and a "Bibby" who delights in her grandchildren and who makes sure they know it! Please handwrite a copy of this letter so Amanda can save it for him and give it to him later in life. 🙂
Happy 4th Birthday, Jackson! May joy and happiness fill your heart and may you always be used of God, even during these youthful years!
As a young mama with little ones, NOTHING gets me like letters from Grandmas! NOTHING…. seeing my mom become a Mimi was the best thing ever!
What a lucky Jackson on his birthday! 🙂
Jackson, I'm sure you had a BIG day with your family and friends to celebrate being 4 years old! Being 4 is even more fun than being 3!!! Have fun with the swingset – make sure it's anchored in the ground so you can swing really HIGH.
Bibby, thanks for sharing the sweet letter with us. It made me cry, happy tears of course!
Simply Wonderful, Beth Bibby! thanx so much for sharing!! How GREAT is our Lord – All praise to Him!! Leann, Calgary, Canada 🙂
I love this, plain and simple.
Sweetest post! When I first saw the title, I thought you were talking about TN. Thought you were going to "lecture" about them taking care of your "big boy". 🙂
What an awesome gift! Thanks for sharing~ We love him too!
Happy Birthday!
jan
Beth, Hope you and Jackson had a very special day–much fun picking out a swing!! My girls always loved to swing and my mom, thier "mimi" would happily push for hours! I can't wait to write my grandchildren birthday letters–I was able to see my first via 4D-ultrasound yesterday–she should arrive in April and I am so excited and grateful to the Lord for this wonderful blessing. (Her name will be Elisabeth!!) Hope all you sweet siestas have a blessed day!
Okay, you made me cry.
Happy birthday little man!
A very Happy Birthday to Jackson. Grandchildren are wonderful…that first little one though, the one who actually names you holds such a special place in your heart.
I write Birthday letters as well and pray that these little ones that God has blessed our lives with will always know how much they are loved.
Blessings to you and your family.
Well, if that isn't the most precious thing ever!!!!!
That is THE sweetest letter I have ever read.
Happy Birthday Jackson!
Sweet dear letter that he will cherish for sure in his later life and hide in a treasure box for now, because that is what little boys do with stuff they love. My lttle man will be 9 in May and has all the letters I have ever written him. Jackson will love it.
Happy Birthday to you Jackson. If you dont have a treasure box for your letter yet ask mom to help you make one. Have a great time on your swing and we want to see pictures!Love, Miss Vicki
Beth
Not only have you helped me to fall more in love with my saviour – you have also helped me be a better wife and mommy.
And I am deeply thankful.
It is a great letter. Get a great swingset and have a great day.
Happy Birthday Jackson!!!!
Amanda, he is beautiful (understatement, I know) and what joy hearing about your family via the blog has brought to us these last 4 years. Thanks for all the memories.
Beautifully written Bibby 🙂 Our Jack is going to be 3 in June and so much like Jackson. The joy of grandchildren basically took me by surprise and my heart is so full, like yours.
love,
janel
Happy birthday Jackson! It's been a joy watching you grow up. It's hard to believe you're already 4! What a delight you are to all of your online Auntie Siestas.
(My word verification is "mistor" a/k/a Mister!)
I'm bawling. Thanks for sharing. I feel the same way about my two little boys (2.5 years and 5-mos)!
sniff..sniff.. I love this! I want to give the little guy a hug myself! God blesses us with family and loved ones. May our love for Him be reflected in our love for others. Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Beth. I feel a letter to my daughter coming on….
Okay…so I am off for a massage today and thought I have a few minutes to check out "The LPM Blog". Now I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face wondering if I will be late for my appointment (and really not caring). I thank God for allowing me to a Mom. What greater blessing is there than to raise children! Don't get me wrong, we are in the teenage years and sometimes I don't know if we will make it through the day, but at the end of a trying season when they sit up next to you and tell you they love you…IT IS ALL WORTH IT! Thank you Beth for sharing your love for your grandchildren. I was blessed with the greatest grandparents in the world who shared Jesus with me. Today I thank God for the grandparents of my children that share Jesus with them. To God be the Glory!!!
Simply beautiful. I have tears in my eyes remembering the first four years of my fifteen year old son.
Happy Birthday Jackson!
God bless little Jackson!!!!
And to the six of you women in Jackson's life, trust me, you will want to do more than scratch her eyes out.You'll beg God to let you but He'll say "no". He'll tell you to love her & show her grace. You won't want to but you will. Only because He has done it for you. And, Jackson will be blessed because you will do it!(But it won't be fun!)
This is so sweet. I hope that Jackson (and Bibby) had a wonderful birthday day!!
Oh my, I'm nearly bawling at work. Must compose myself. This is the most heartfelt, honest letter, and it's wonderful. It touches me because my son just turned 5 and all these things I've thought of and wanted to say to him. He also has a princess three years younger than him that follows his every move and loves him with all her heart.
Happy Birthday Jackson! You are very blessed to have a Bibby and family that love you so much.
I have tears in my eyes reading this. So beautiful. So precious.
My thoughts turned to my parents' only grand-child, my niece (who is 2). I am writing her letters in a bound journal to give her someday (perhaps on her 13th birthday)–so she knows how much she's loved. Mine aren't half as eloquent as yours, but they're from the heart, and that's what matters. These children must know (and I know Jackson and AB do know) how much they're loved…just for being them.
Congratulations on being a "Bibby" for 4 years, Siesta Mama! No more precious title in the world, I'm certain (except maybe "Aunt" for me! hee hee) 🙂 Love you!
and
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ORIGINAL MIESTA! 🙂 LOVE YOU JACKSON! 🙂
Happy 4th Birthday Jackson! When you read this years down the road I hope you really beleive what your Bibby has wrote. I am a mimmie to 2 precious grandbabies of my own and we truly do feel this much for you guys. God does give us a chance to some do-overs with our grandchildren. Praise you Lord! Hve a great day with that precious Bibby! Carla
Okay, Bibby. That brought tears to my eyes.
Love is a beautiful thing!!!
I am in tears! So very very precious.
Amen! Hope he enjoys that swing set, I am sure he will. Happy 4th Birthday Jackson!
I remember seeing you at a podcast announcing your happy news, that you would have someone to praise dance with and crying tears of joy for you then. Once again your sweet love for this grand child has me crying (tears of joy!) again.
Remnds me of the pure joy my parents find in my girls and how blessed a family of love is.
Beth, that letter was absolutely precious!
Who is that big boy?
That can't be our sweet Jackson celebrating a 4 year old birthday?!?
Happy Birthday, Jackson!
Oh, Amanda, time flies.
He is wonderful. I'm so glad you share him with us.
Bibby, love on him lots. He's a treasure!
And one thought that keeps rolling through my head since the trip to Houston for the Scripture Memorization. Mom of Eleven gave some good advice to us from Chick-fil-A's owner, Truett Cathy…
He said "I would rather build a boy than mend a man."
How true.
Keep building that boy. God's way.
I too have a Jackson, but he is 2 yrs younger. Thanks for the letter, since I am Mom instead of Bibby my perspective is a little different, but not much. My little man shouts AMEN so loud after pray that anyone in a mile radius can hear. I think that's God's way of getting adults attentions. Happy Birthday Jackson! Thank u Beth.
Happy Birthday Jackson! Here I sit with tears in my eyes – what a great letter for Jackson from his Bibby! Thank you for sharing.
I can so identify with your letter to Jackson. My own little sweetie is 5 yrs old and I've never known anything like this kind of love. Not that I haven't known lots of love; this is just different.
Mine is tinged with sadness, however, because my little one's daddy is also my prodigal son. My sweet grandchildren are not currently being brought up – at least at home – with an awareness of the Love of God. Major heartbreak! But I'm standing on the promises!
Thanks for putting words to my feelings. You have a gift. Thank God it belongs to Him.
Blessings, dear Sister!
So wonderfully sweet! Thanks for bringing those emotions out of me as I sit at work during a day that just isn't going right all the way around! I have a 15 month old and I understand how much loving a child hurts (but in a good way)!
My best way to explain how painfully yet amazingly I love my child is that he makes my teeth hurt! That's only because every once of my body is in love with that little man!
Happy Birthday to a big little man!
Happy Birthday, Jackson!!
Thank you so much, Beth, for writing this letter. It was such a great idea.
I am blessed to have four wonderful grandchildren. My grandaughter, Aliyah, who is four, calls me Mimi. When my youngest daughter had her first baby, London, who will be four in September, he started calling me Moo Moo (he couldn't say Mimi). So now I am Mimi and Moo Moo. Now I am waiting to see what Hudson, who is 18 months and Norah 6 months are going to call me. Any way it is so much fun and I can relate to all the things you wrote about.
Thanks again for an inspiring letter.
I know the thrill you feel in being called Bibby. You see, my little grandson calls me Ninny. I love how God uses these little guys to change our lives. Happy Birthday to Jackson and Blessings on you all!
Happy Birthday Jackson!
What a beautiful letter Beth. I teared up thinking about how my firstborn will be 2 next week. I never even came close to understanding God's love until I had a child.
that boy is too sweet and so loved! you all are a beautiful example of a great family 🙂 thanks for that. mama beth i just had to write and say i had missed you! 🙂 and i'm honestly bouncing on my seat, checking the post office every day for my book and i can hardly sleep! i'm so excited to get IN and do the questions with everyone! PNG post is holding me up! :S anyways, love you dearly! and you looked lovely as always in your valentines pics with sweet little annabeth! 🙂 oh my stars i just about screamed with laughter when she was apparently tired of the photo shoot w/ jackson on the chair!! HILARIOUS! anyways, enough of my chatter! 🙂
The love you lavish on your daughters and grandchildren is a blessing to see. How I would have loved to feel so cherished as a daughter and granddaughter. While I'm still breaking free, overcoming insecurities, and doing all sorts of other hard work as I seek to become more like Jesus, I hope that my children (and hopefully grandchildren one day far off) will have at least a small taste of the lavish love of God as I learn to love them better.
Happy Birthday, Jackson! God will work powerfully through one who is loved as deeply as you are.
Beth, we know how much you love babies, so we took some pictures of our Patriarchs study group babes. I put them on my blog since I don't know how else to contact you! http://annasjoyblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/letter-for-beth-moore.html
Beautiful! Just beautiful… The tears are rolling down my face. It reminded me of Caleb, my son. How he loves David Crowder Band's Neverending song. Sons/grandchildren are truly heritage from above.
Happy Birthday Jackson!
And thank you so much for sharing your love for Jackson with us. It inspires my soul.
I'm so stinking jealous Beth! Now here comes that insecurity thing….LOL just kidding~ I truely do celebrate your love affair with your grandchildren. They are dreamy! I have one married….I can't wait!
LOVED this letter, Bibby! I can NOT WAIT to have grandchildren, & I am just living it through you until I do!!! Guess I have to wait until my kids graduate from high school…. (grin)
I am so happy for you, Beth! I write the bday letters too….I love getting it all out in b&w!
Sharon in Katy, TX
This makes my heart smile. I *almost* want to go wake up my own 4-year old drama queen just to give her one more squeeze because of how it reminds me of her. Of course I would have to take in all of the specifically boy-related items of your letter and fill them in with something regarding pink, princesses, or something else excessively girly, but the emotions still line up 🙂
I'm so glad for the joy he brings ya'll. God is so good.
Happy Birthday Jackson!