Ridgell's Originals

And today Andrew Joel Ridgell turns 5.  As I do with all the family on birthdays and anniversaries, here are the reasons I love him.

He is a 4th generation Joel Ridgell.  My Dad is Joel Wesley, I'm Stephen Joel, my son is Joel Don, and then Andrew Joel.  But even better than the bloodlines is the legacy of faith being passed down from generation to generation.

When we were there this weekend, he was singing praise songs he made up.  Pretty neat.  Can't remember all the words, but Jesus died for our sins and we love God were pretty frequent.

He is a happy, fun loving guy.  He loves life.  Whatever we are doing, he is ready and happy about it.  I am sure he can't be like that all the time, but that has always been my experience.

His prayers for sick family members always start with "thank you for to make them well.  Not sure about the grammar  but that's pretty good theology.

He loves to fish.  :)

He loves ball.  :)

He loves Jesus.

I never think of him without breaking out into a big grin.  He makes me happy.

He loves his Mommy and Daddy.  He loves his sister and his brother.  He loves his cousins.

As far as I can tell, he seems to love everybody.

It will be exciting to see what God is going to do with him in this world.  With his heart and his personality, he  can help a lot of people come to know Jesus.

So Andrew, stay sweet.  Keep making up praise songs.  Keep praying.  Keep loving your family.  And keep loving God.

Pops thanks God every day for you.  I love you.  I am so glad we are special buddies.

Thanks God for the gift of Andrew.