There are times in life when we are made aware of blessings that are a normal part of our lives, blessings we don't think about much until something serious or monumental or traumatic brings it to light.  This is one of those moments for me.

Luke was always my please-everyone-at-all-costs kid.  He would sooner take a beating than hurt anyone's feelings (not that he DID take a beating for that, mind you), which isn't necessarily a bad thing until being a man-pleaser compromises ethics.  This is what I feared for him when he grew up--that he would still be so eager to please that he would be blown and tossed by the winds of opinion, of fad, of whim.  I needn't have feared. 

While I worried and prayed over my beautiful, dark-eyed, kind-hearted, people-pleasing boy, God was molding a man who would not only go against the tide, but who would clearly and articulately state why.  To say I am amazed at his strength of conviction would be an understatement at best.

I look at him now, and I still see that beautiful boy.  But now I also see behind those striking near-black eyes a resolve I've never seen in any other person.  I see love and compassion of a caliber rarely seen.  I see faithfulness and dedication and loyalty.  I see a man more concerned with the needs and interests of others than of himself.  And most importantly I see a man who, more than anything, strives to be someone his brothers and sister, and everyone else for that matter, can look up to.  And not for his own glory.  No, he is quick to give the glory to God, to Whom it belongs. 

It is a joy to know that I can point our younger children to Luke and say, "Be like him", because I know I can trust his example.  I can't imagine there being many treasures more precious to a mother.