I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  Psalm 139:14 (NKJV)

Today we celebrate the high school graduation of our third child, Kevin Jon. We thank Jesus for this son who has brought us so much joy these 18 years.  It will be very hard to not have him doing home school any more!

Often I’m reminded how I was praying for other friends to have babies so long ago and decided to add my name to the prayer list, and God heard my prayers.  Perhaps some of you haven’t heard my Kevin story…so here it is…

Kevin has a big sister Kallie and a big brother Jacob. When Kevin’s older brother Jacob was just a few hours old, I was lying in the hospital bed holding baby Jacob in my arms. Right there and then God put the desire in my heart for more children.  Little did I know this desire would become one of the hardest prayers of perseverance in my life up until then.

When Jacob was half a year old, I started reading a One Year Bible, a goal I’d had for many years which I continue today. That same year I was introduced to prayer journaling and started jotting down my prayers. One of my main prayers was for friends having babies.  At one point I decided to add my name to my baby prayer list, hoping God would bless our family again.

When Jacob was six, I was reading my One Year Bible when a verse from  2 Kings 4:16 popped out at me that I had never noticed before.  “Next year at this time you will hold in your arms a son.”  I claimed this promise and a month later we were expecting!

I cried out to God with my voice—
         To God with my voice;
         And He gave ear to me.  Psalm 77:1 (NKJV)

Nine months after I underlined that promise, Kevin Jon came into the world. I was so happy that God had filled this desire of my heart after seven long years of prayer.  I used to sing Kevin a song, “When Jacob was almost seven, Kevin came from heaven…” I never thought God would make me wait longer than seven years to answer another prayer, but that is another story!

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
      But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.   Proverbs 13:12 (NKJV)

We had prayed so much to have Kevin, I just knew from day one that I had to pray for him each day. But what do you pray for a brand new baby?  We know God has special plans for him, but what are they?  And so for many years, I laid my hand on Kevin’s head and prayed the same prayer over Kevin each night:

Dear Jesus, Thank you for Kevin. We love him so much.  Please keep him healthy and give him a good night sleep. Please guard over Kevin always with Your angels, fill him with Your Spirit, and help him always follow You.  In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

Over the years I’ve added to that prayer things that are going on his life from his orange cats, to 4H projects, to his future.  And here he is graduating!  The prayers will just keep going as I pray for him to follow the straight and narrow path God has laid out for him.

I still remember the evening when he was seven years old, Kevin tossed me a note.  I opened it to find the best message ever: “Dear Mom and Dad, I want to be a Christgun.” That evening as we tucked Kevin into bed, his Daddy and I listened as Kevin asked Jesus into his heart. Another very special day was three years later when Kevin and his brother Jacob and Daddy and I were all baptized together.

Kevin is worth every moment of prayer. He is always here to help me.  He is the most caring to his baby brother and baby niece.  He traveled to Kenya on a mission trip.  He serves his community through 4H and his church with playing piano and running the sound system. His hobbies vary incredibly from entomology to robots to magic.  Kevin is a gifted speaker and I have always wondered what God’s calling will be on his voice.

Today is the beginning of a new chapter for Kevin and I will be praying for him all the way.  Go, Kevin!  We love you!  We’re so proud of you! We thank Jesus for you! Go light up the world for Jesus!

Love, Mom

xoxoxox

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV)

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)

P.S.  Kevin was due on March 19th, 2000, his grandpa’s birthday, so we named him Kevin Jon after his Grandpa Jon.  This Father’s Day while we celebrate Kevin’s graduation, we also remember Grandpa Jon who is now in the arms of Jesus.

Scripture taken the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.