Firstborn

         The term first born primarily refers to as the eldest, the first in the family.  Secondly, it refers to the rights and authority of a person.   In the Old Testament times, the firstborn receives a double inheritance and one who would inherit his father's role as head of the family.  So expectations are high for a firstborn to be male.

        Every family expects a firstborn- whether it is the first child of a couple or the first grandchild, niece  or nephew, a cousin or  a god child.  In the bible, Cain was the first born of human kind.  Like every family we were expecting a firstborn in our household-the first grandchild, the first niece or nephew.  

         At the start of the new millennium, our household was expecting a firstborn.  But it is neither a daughter nor a son but a blessing: a fraternal twin of a boy and girl (separated by nearly 2 weeks of conception).  It was March 29, 2001, when two first born came into our family: AM and PM.

Growing Up Years:
       The joy of having kids at home is rewarding, de-stressing and inspiring.  Taking care of the twins is a shared obligation by my brother and his wife, my mother, my (then, unmarried) sister and mine.

         Raising a child as they say is even more difficult task than child-bearing.  Not only you deal with their needs but also their tantrums.  The joyful part, you get to discover their likes, their talents, their skills which you got to support  to hone them.

The 3-day 13th Birthday Celebration
         As Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you...".  So, "the end to childhood celebration" started with a prayer meeting at home where Tricia and Aldrex  invited classmates to come over.  After dinner was the "dance in the front yard" party.  The second day (Saturday of March 29, 2014) was shop- with-mama- time where "buy me this "and buy me that" happened.  Sunday is always family day, where singing, playing, dining, shopping(groceries) and they  got to lead the Children's Sunday Worship.

The Conclusion:
        To end this narrative of mine, let me give 3 wishes on this your Birthday:
         
1.  Since you were the first born in the family, I have given you importance, given you both my time, my talents, my strength, my finances, my dreams...  My wish is for you to value the people around you and cling on to your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ ("So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.- Psalms 90:12")

2.  Don't give up on that "heart of a child".  Be cheerful, be playful, be forgiving and loving..

3.   Continue on your dreams and work on it.  The people who cared for you since you were born will always be there to support you! And cling on to this assurance in the Bible "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:11-12

Lastly...
      If I could account the times since your birth, i t would take me days to finish this...but to summarize, you were expected, you were welcomed and you were loved by all of us in the family!