Happy Birthday, Jonathan

After such a sad weekend we got to have dinner last night with my brother on his birthday!
23 years ago today I was one proud big sister. I still remember the day he was born. I immediately felt my big sister instincts. As a toddler, he had the biggest, bluest eyes you have ever seen. He had beautiful long blond eyelashes that everyone loved. Even at 2 and 3 years old he was the socialite of our church. He would walk up and down the aisles greeting the elderly people and shaking their hands. I prided myself in being his protector. But there were times when he got the brunt of being the little brother. Josh and I skyrocketed him through the air once on a mattress and he landed on his dresser. That was fun. And then there were the many times that I dressed him up like a doll. One time a friend of mine and I decided Jonathan had chicken pox and we put lipstick dots ALL over his body. Mom was not too happy and we had to scrub the hundreds of dots off.
As with Josh, I was always very protective when it came to girls. If they did not meet "my standards" life was not going to be fun for him or the girl. The only times in my life I have yelled or spoken hatefully to people is to my brother's girlfriends. I didn't mind telling them their shorts were too short or their tops were too low. :)

I loved watching Jonathan play sports. I was one of his biggest fans. I loved watching him in the school play of Grease. I loved when Jonathan began to develop a love for music. I loved watching him worship and pray and be a strong leader in his youth group.

It was one of the greatest joys of my life to get to record music with him. He is my favorite person to sit by in church when we are all together. He is a great worship leader. I love that Jonathan has no problem telling people the truth and being blunt and honest. He is genuine and humble. I have watched him shed tears over his sin and rise up again stronger and more dependent on the Lord. He is an amazing example of Jesus to me, David, and Malaya.

I love watching him be an "unkie". He loves teasing Malaya. I think he is getting me back for some of the teasing and stuff we did to him as a kid. We love to wrestle. Just a few weeks ago in the presence of his new son, I pinned him down. :)

And now, he is a husband with a wonderful, beautiful wife and a daddy to our precious miracle, Jed! He is a great daddy. Jed has his gorgeous blue eyes.

Jonathan, Happy Birthday and may God bless your next year of life. I love being your big sis!