New friends of ours showed up at Keller's 6th birthday party this weekend with their son, and the dad took a look around the kitchen and said, "WHOA, you went BIG!" It was just a passing comment to him but really struck me as I glanced around our decorated kitchen. Ummm, yes it seems that after HOURS of party preparation for Keller's superhero party, we had in fact gone REALLY BIG. There were decorations, games, themes, food, banners, and more. It was SUPER BIG.
I thought later about that comment made by the father about us going BIG because I hadn't realized it before. We always love celebrating birthdays in our home and as a family love putting together a party, but this one had gotten pretty extreme. What happened that made it so BIG?
A quick reflection easily revealed that my heart is overflowing with thankfulness and celebration as Keller has recently lost his autism diagnosis. There seems to be SO MUCH to celebrate. Keller's early birthday parties were only a few people, and even that seemed to completely overwhelm his little head and heart. As the years have gone on we have added people to his parties and they have become more big and boisterous. But this year we have been planning his birthday party for MONTHS and he has been filled with eager anticipation for it. He loves his friends, he loves a party, and he loves to celebrate. We were all looking forward to it.
But maybe I was the one most looking forward to it. To gather a big group of people and have a ruckus and rowdy celebration for my son is a true gift and one that I don't take lightly. My son, who use to have autism and would literally SCREAM if anyone walked into our living room, now planned an entire party (and dinner that followed) for the people he loved and relished in every moment. Truly, he soaked up all the love, attention and friendship of every single person that was there.
It. Was. Stunning.
So yes. I went BIG. I went REALLY BIG. I made too many decorations and I made the whole family dress up like superheroes and I bought WAY too much food and the whole thing was super over the top. I went BIG. But for my miracle boy I absolutely love BIG and celebrating all that God has done in his life.
Happy birthday dear Keller. For you, my son, we go BIG!