My Ten-Year Old Son

My baby is turning ten years old today.   I feel like it was just yesterday that he was my tiny little boy wrapped in a yellow blanket sleeping all day and always happy. Where does the time go?  

He doesn’t need my help tying his shoes anymore or zipping his coat.  He can make his own breakfast and has an opinion about what he wears to school.  He’s becoming so independent now and has such confidence in himself that he makes us so proud.  He’s a quiet soul, but is funny as all get out and always surprises us with his quick comebacks to any adult conversation.  It may not look like he’s paying attention, but he is.   He’s so polite and courteous to everyone and is the model cub scout in every way.

He’s my little companion in the car and will go on any errand with you as long as there are gummy worms in the end.  He never complains and has such an easy-going nature, well, most of the time.   Add a lack of sleep to the mix and you could get a different child at any given moment. 

As his parents, we are so proud of all he’s done and will continue to do in this world.  I see great things in his future.  Perhaps he’ll be an artist, a computer engineer, an Air Force Cadet or maybe even a geologist.  The sky is the limit, but do know that this last ten years has been a blessing for us because he’s given us and our family so much love.   I love you from here to the moon…………(I can still say that, even if you’re double digits old.) Happy Birthday, my little boy.  I love you.

Extra Lights and a Cat Ornament

This is our first Christmas in our new house and so was excited to see what the house would look like all decorated.   I had thrown out several old and tattered decorations before we moved, then sold 50% of what décor I had left at our garage sale prior to the move and was still surprised by how much I have left over that I didn’t use. 

I put the remaining decorations in a plastic tub in the basement storage left to collect dust and be of no use, until today.

One of my friends is an angel.  Really, she is. (You can see her halo and wings when she’s not watching.) She has requested any extra Christmas décor to decorate a foster family’s tree tomorrow for five little girls that have never had a Christmas.   Never had a Christmas.

This just made my heart pound.  I had to do something.  I found the tree stand we used last year for our real tree (that I so desperately had to have and will probably never have another real tree again), found the box with all the extra lights in it and then remembered we had a whole box of teddy bears in the garage.  But were there five?

I went to the garage to look in the box and found four.   Rats!  My husband decided to check in the other box next to them and sure enough, there was one more bear.  Five!  They will each get a new home to five little girls who will love them and hold them.

A much better life than living in the garage in a box, don’t you think?  (God Wink don’t you think?  Five bears for five little girls?)

So tomorrow, I will get the joy of helping someone decorate their home so that they will have a  wonderful tree and decorations to share with their family just like the rest of us will.  It will be wonderful to look forward to.

The Mall Today

I actually went to the mall today for the first time in a long time.  I don’t like the mall at all.   Teenybopper shops, loud music, clothes in windows that no one really wears, and don’t forget the parking lot; just a few of the reasons I’m not a huge fan.

I was in search of a birthday present (or two) for our youngest son who will be entering double digits in a matter of days.  How did that happen?  It seems like only yesterday…..anyway.

I was walking through the mall with a mission to find A, B and/or C and was almost run over by not two, not three, but four texting, oblivious to the world in front of them, people.  I have to admit, I like my little gadget of a phone and use it to find phone numbers and to answer  the trivia question on the way home from school, but I just don’t have that busy of a schedule that I have to multi-task every moment of the day.  I certainly don’t text and walk into people.

As I walked the mall from store to store, I realized that almost everyone (probably 75%) had their phone in their hand or right up in their face.   There should be a word for it.   It’s like the walking dead.  Are they really searching for coupons for the next store ahead? I don’t think so.  Are they telling the nurse how much medicine to give to the patient?  I don’t think so.   Nothing they could be saying, browsing or texting could be more important than being polite to those around you. 

I really try to use my phone when it’s appropriate.  There are times when I am on it and I probably shouldn’t be, but I think those times are fairly infrequent.  It’s something I am conscious about, but I don’t think the rest of the world is, or at least they weren’t today.

Next time you’re out and about walking in public, take note of how many people you see with their phone in their face.  It’s a trend I’m not a fan of.  What happened to saying hello to people as you passed them?   What happened to that trend?  Just curious.

One of Us

A few years ago, I made a music cd for the car of some of my favorite songs and included the song, “One of Us” by Joan Osborne.  The boys always started laughing when it came on because there’s a little old lady that sings a little tidbit before the song actually starts. 

oh...

one of these nights at about twelve o'clock

this whole earth's gonna reel and rock...

things thay'll tremble and cry for pain

for the Lord's gonna come in his heavenly airplane.

It’s very nasal and whiny and it always made them laugh.    Before long, they were clicking to CD4, Track 18 themselves to hear it.   We must have listened to it hundreds of times before I asked them if they knew what the song was about.  Neither of them really knew.  They always just listened to the start and laughed then let the song play without really listening to it.

When I explained to them that it was about God being just like one of us walking on this earth, riding the bus, with a name just like one of us.  If you could ask Him one question, what would you ask?  It’s really a great song. 

I got to thinking today about that song.  What if you could ask God one question?  Would you?  What would you ask?  I don’t know that I could ask because I’d be so fearful it would be the wrong question. There are so many questions to be asked. 

Why is the sky blue and not hot pink?

What am I supposed to be when I grow up?

Will my children grow up to be happy and giving?

Is Heaven more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen?

The list goes on and on and on.

The other part of the song talks about God being here as one of us, just a stranger on a bus.  It makes you think doesn’t it?  Would your behavior change if you knew the man sitting next to you in the movie theater crunching popcorn just a little too loudly was actually God?  Would you still honk at the car in front of you for sitting at the green light too long if it was God sitting in the white minivan? 

The part most people forget about is that God pretty much knows every single thing about you.   He knows how many freckles you have, how clean your ears are, how kind your heart is, how thoughtful you are, how angry you can become.  He sees it all. 

Would I make him proud of my actions?  My words?  My thoughts?   Perhaps on a given day I might, but other days I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t get a star next to my name.  Today I’m trying to live like he’s sitting on the couch playing Xbox with the boys.  I need to be mindful of my words and actions because what if God was one of us?  

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving and for us a day of rest. We celebrated on Sunday before my husband left on a trip and enjoyed a wonderful dinner prepared by my mom.  It was delicious.  So, today, we are enjoying a pajama day at home, watching the parade, reading books, listening to music, playing games, taking a nap and will probably watch a movie to top it off.

We have so much to be thankful for today.  Our home is warm when it is freezing outside.   We have our health and each other.  We have a fridge full of food and family and friends all over the world whom we love each day.

The things I’m most thankful for though are the little slices of the day that happen when no one is watching: getting a hug from my youngest when he’s still rubbing his eyes and half asleep, having my oldest say, “thanks, Mom”; hearing from my husband (who’s traveling today), snuggling together on the couch all reading books with the fireplace going or sharing a bowl of popcorn.   These are the things that make life, life. 

I am thankful for so many things and today I will enjoy this life and all the reasons to be thankful.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.  May your home be warm and filled with all things beautiful today.