P.J.’s Journey: The Joshua Factor

I remember back when A.J. and I were debating on adopting another child and some friends told us “Two are not much more work than one.”  I still don’t get that.  I think what they must have meant is that if you’ve got a routine down for one you can keep the other on the same schedule and do for two what you normally do for one.  Maybe that is somewhat true for twins or children who are very close in age, but when your kids are like ours, almost seven years apart, it’s a whole different ballgame.  Two kids equal twice the work, twice the cost, and okay… twice as much to love.   Our boys are as different as night and day.  From a very young age, P.J. always wanted company… someone to play ball with, someone to watch a movie with, someone to work out with.  Joshua has always entertained himself reading, drawing, playing video games.  There are definitely similarities… for example, both boys have always needed help with homework, but that’s a boy thing, right?  😉  They also both have a freckle behind their left ear.  When we discovered this, P.J. was about 7 or 8 at the time and I was able to convince him that was God’s way of stamping (or branding) them to get into the right family.

Lots of people have asked us how Josh is doing with all of this that has happened to P.J.  The answer is that he is doing amazingly well… handling it better than most twelve year olds would.  Of course, Josh would tell you that is because he is going to be 13 in July and will get his own email address and FaceBook account at that time (that’s what he thinks… haha).   This accident has had a huge impact on our entire family, especially Josh.  With the situation as it is now and P.J. being hospitalized over two hours away, it’s been tough for us to give both boys our undivided attention, so Josh has had to grow up a lot over these past 10-1/2 weeks.

Both our boys have strong biblical names:  Philip James and Joshua Michael.  I explained the meaning behind P.J.’s name in the first entry I wrote about his accident (see P.J.’s Journey:  The Early Days).  The name “Joshua” is from the Hebrew “Yehoshu’a” meaning “YAHWEH is salvation.”  The name “Jesus” actually comes from a Greek translation of the Aramaic short form.   The name “Michael” is from the Hebrew name “Mikha’el” meaning “who is like God.”  Joshua loves P.J. with all his heart and he hurts for him, but he has the kind of faith that we should all have… he just knows God is going to take care of everything and P.J. will be home again soon.  I can’t explain it, but he has never doubted or questioned the power and love of God.  He has such a simple (child-like as it may be) trust.  P.J. used to get a kick out of telling everyone that he named Josh.  Yes, it’s true… we actually let our six year old (with some guidance and limitations) pick out a name for his new baby brother.  But I think you’ll agree his decision was guided by God, and I think it is no coincidence that Josh has so much confidence in P.J.’s future health.

 ——————————————————————-

If you would like to be notified of future posts regarding P.J.’s journey, please enter your email address on the right side of the screen to subscribe to the feed.  To view all related posts, select “P.J.’s Journey” from the Categories list on the right side of the screen.