my prayer for isaac

i pray your feet will take you where you are called to go.

i pray your hands will find their purpose in what you are meant to do.

i pray they are both used for provision, and good, and life and love.

i pray they are both kept from harm.

i pray they are both the extensions of a light and life within you

that comes from knowing and trusting your Maker as your Savior.

i pray that He is the one who guides them both

to do good things and bring healing to a broken world.

i pray your feet will find joy and laughter in this life.

i pray your hands will bring laughter and joy to others' lives.

i pray they will mature and be useful for many years to come.

i pray they will one day be weathered and calloused... marks of a life well-lived,

full of work and play and adventure and fulfillment. 

may they not be yours, but His.

{these little casts were made from a kit given to us by a dear friend of mr. b... whose entire family of four is now dear to this family of three. the gift includes a frame with three panels and two packs of this molding material that is meant to be used to make casts of a child's hands or feet... or both, if preferred. then, the casts can be placed in the outer panels of the frame, and the inside frame is meant to hold a photograph. i will probably put the photo below in the center...

...or, maybe a different photo that shows all of isaac.


this is one of the nicest gifts we received for isaac. it also came with a little metal plate with adhesive on the back for mounting to the frame... inscribed with isaac's name and birth date. i think it is such a thoughtful, creative gift and means of capturing the essence of how tiny your little one is when you bring him or her home from the hospital. it captures how sweet and tender that time of life is.

funny thing, though. we kept forgetting to take the molds of his hand and foot, because we set the gift aside after we got it, waiting for a good day to cast them... a special day, like his one-month birthday. but as the box was out-of-sight/out-of-mind, we forgot to do it while he was still very tiny. then the one-month mark came and went, so we waited for the two-month milestone. but that mark passed us by too, so we tried to think of a different milestone day to cast them on... even making up silly occasion to justify what day we'd cast them. finally, when i saw the kit sitting off to the side the other day, i said, "if we do not get this done soon, his hands and feet will be too big to get the casts of them to fit in the frames." so we did it right then and there... no more waiting for a "special" day.

and the best thing happened... we could not get isaac to cooperate. we had to keep re-kneading the "clay" and starting over, especially for his hand impression. otherwise, it might have looked like we were raising a dinosaur! *wink*... BABIES!! =)

why was this the best thing, you ask? well, mr. b. and i sat on the floor as we tried to get those hand and foot prints while isaac sat in his swing. and the whole thing became rather comical, so we found ourselves laughing and laughing and laughing some more. and i knew in my heart, as we all three sat there laughing, we named isaac so appropriately. i knew right then that laughter would be one of our family themes. it would rank right up there with music.

anyway, at two-and-a-half months, this is what isaac's sweet hand and foot looks like. they grow by the day, as does the number of times i kiss them... well, that is to say, his actual hands and feet... not the casts.}