Josh’s 17th birthday
Happy Birthday Josh!!
As Tim McGraw says, 17, only comes once in a lifetime. Don’t it just fly by wild and free? I’m so proud of the person that you are. You are fun, smart, kind, and easy to get along with. We get so many comments from the adults around you who are so impressed with your ability to have a great conversation. You are eager to try new things, and you have the best attitude in most situations (exception being things for which you have to wake up early on the weekends)
This year you and your friends have started tailgating at lunch and before football games. You are always coming up with creative things to cook on a camp stove. You have tried on two jobs this year. First at Walmart. Disaster. Then at Adventure Golf–more fun, but I still think it wasn’t your favorite.
You’ve climbed 14ers, tried scuba diving, took 3rd place in your tennis region, been up early in the mornings for seminary, found a love for the gym, made an illegal bet on horse racing, gone coasteering, climbed castles, been in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, white water rafted, ran a 10k, was inducted into the National Honors Society and made a Junior Officer, helped plan a school trunk or treat, biked on the beach, skied, done a ton of homework, and played hours of video games. I’d say it’s been a year full of adventure and learning!
My advice to you this year comes from Bryan Stevenson. We were both so impacted by seeing the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and visiting the Legacy Museum in Montgomery. He said, “Hope is not a feeling. It’s not thinking optimistically about the future. Hope is an ORIENTATION OF THE SPIRIT. And in order to have justice, we must have hope.”
I’ve thought a lot about what that means–hope is an orientation of the spirit. I think it means that even in the face of odds, or hard situations or circumstances, we keep ourselves rooted in hope. We have the courage to move forward anyway. I think it goes well with what one of my favorite Instagram influencers, Sharon McMahon, always says. “Do what you can, where you can, with the resources available to you.” As we anchor in hope, we can experience happiness and be a force for good in the world around us. You are already part of that force, and I can’t wait to see what this next year will bring!
Love, Mom
