At 6 months old, Zak could pull himself up and stand beside things. At 10 months old, he was walking! That was the earliest any of our kids walked... he couldn't wait to take off and keep up with his big brother. He was and is our clumsy, bruiser. He would fall and run into things daily (or hourly). He'd just shake it off and get back up. He was into everything and was a bit destructive! Many times he would empty a baby powder bottle all over himself and his bedroom. Another time, he was caught getting a chocolate ice cream lid out of the trash, helping himself to it, and smearing it all over his little, mischievious face. While Jacob, Zak's older brother, used a spoon to eat his chocolate pudding and was as clean as a whistle, Zak would spread it all over himself and the table like finger paints. Oh, and he was definitly a play-doh eater. Haha! I really wish I would have kept a journal of all the crazy things he did as a toddler.
His first steps.
Pudding finger paints...
Zak was playing with green Play-Doh... I wonder where he put it?!?
Baby powder baby! So cute, but so naughty.
When Zak was about 1 1/2 years old, we were at a family bonfire at my Aunt and Uncle's house. We kept a close eye on him as he was bound and determined to run into that fire. But, of course, somehow we got distracted and he made a fierce beeline for that fire. Thankfully, my cousin grabbed him before he leapt into it. Phew! He scared me around water, fire, heights, anything with any danger involved because he seemed to have no fear... at all. I remember having nightmares about him dying in some horrible way and me being helpless to save him.
Another scary moment was a few years ago when I was sitting in the van with all four boys. Tyler (my husband) had gone into Best Buy to grab something real quick. I was messing on my phone (21st century adult) and I heard someone whining about something. By this point in my parenting, I am pretty good at ignoring it. But after a few minutes, I turn around to find that Zak had wrapped the seat belt around his neck and it had tightened. I could barely get my fingers in between the seat belt and his neck. I freaked out!! When Tyler got back, I yelled, "go get scissors!!" Lol. Tyler, all cool and collected, used his car key to disconnect the seat belt from the ceiling. Thank you, Lord, it wasn't tighter around his neck. That kid, he gets himself in such predicaments!!
He is now 8 years old and has grown up a lot! While he is still super clumsy, he has a good healthy fear of most things. He is a great swimmer, knows to stay away from fires, and heights... well... i still don't trust him, but that will come :) He is a pretty trustworthy kid for the most part, but we got a wake up call a couple months ago.
Our family of six was walking in the downtown area in our small, Amish town. It was around 4:30pm and was unusually busy. We had just walked out of a store and were grabbing the hands of our 5 and 6 year old. We were still planning our way to the crosswalk when Zak decided to run, like a bullet out of a shotgun, across the street at a full on sprint. I stood on the sidewalk as I watched my 8 year old run straight in front of a furniture truck. I was in shock, helpless to save him, and would have seen the whole life-ending mess right in front of my eyes. With only a few feet, if that, between him and the truck, Zak ran back to us. My first reaction was to yell at him!! I didn't care who was around. I wanted to scare the crap out of him quite frankly! Because he had scared the crap out of me (not literally, thankfully)! Then I just sobbed and held him. In the matter of seconds, our lives would have been changed forever. He could have died, or been in a wheel chair the rest of his life. Zak had a hard time sleeping that night and will, to this day, talk about how he almost died. I'm thankful that memories fade and become less real, because that image was tormenting and still brings me to tears.
A couple weeks ago as we were walking to the Clock Tower (A neat focal point in our small town), Zak started talking about how we wouldn't have been walking to the clock tower, if he had died. I, up until that point, assumed I had called his name to come back to me when he almost ran in front of that truck. So, I asked him, "Did you come running back, because I yelled your name?" He said, "No, you didn't yell my name. I heard in my mind, 'Go back, Zak'." That was the first I had heard of that from him! I knew right away... it was God. I told him that God was speaking to him and he very confidently said, "I know". Wow. Just wow.
I 100% believe that God protected Zak that day. The enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy, but our GOD is bigger! I don't always understand His ways and I don't expect to. But I am thankful for his protective hand over Zak. God is good... always.
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