Sam's Birthday

(WARNING: PHOTO OVERLOAD)

Sam turned three today, so we went back to the place where so many mixed feelings emerge, back to the city of Melbourne.  Back to the Melbourne Zoo, where we all spent so many hours while Sam was going through his surgeries.  This time my little boy walked through the gates, without an ng tube and full of expectation of all the animals he was going to see.  Let me tell you that this Mum's heart could not have been more blessed today.

The photo below was one that I sought out in particular, a marker on our journey with Sam.  Compare this photo today with one three months on, in 2008.

Thank you God, you have shown us love beyond compare, and we praise you.  You have shown us mercy through hard times, and have never left us.  Thank you for Sam, who was crafted by your own hands.  I hope you are pleased with job we are doing in raising him.  By your hand, we celebrate Sam's third birthday in Melbourne, a place of so much heartache for us.  Yet here in this place of haunting memories, you have planted a seed of light and hope, that is growing new memories to cherish, and piece by piece replacing the heartache with restored pieces of happiness.

He renews my strength.
   He guides me along right paths,
      bringing honor to his name. (Psalm 23:3)