my apologies

Honestly, I apologize.  I apologize because I don't want to be one of those moms who can't stop gushing about their amazing kids.  The fact is, my kids are normal, quite normal.  I have a typical first born, so he's a rule follower, advanced at school work and all over nice kid.  He also has a video game obsession, so he has been known to sneak in time with his DS when he's supposed to be reading.  We have 2 girls, who often love to be girly sisters.  They also love to push each other's buttons, pull hair, scream and fight over toys and clothes.  We have it all here, the good and the bad, the extraordinary and the ordinary.

But sometimes, when you get caught up in the crappy world of grown-up stuff your kids will stop you in your tracks and give you a sweet reminder that they are watching.

The past week has been awful.  I won't go into the reasons here, but it has been a week to end all weeks.  In the midst of it all, Jason has been working on a school essay about courage.  Despite all my frustration with his less than stellar essay writing skills (poor kid has a former English teacher as a mom), the boy has produced something awesome.  The flow of the essay is rough, the thoughts are a bit underdeveloped, but the heart is there.  So if you'll just indulge me bit (well, you are reading MY blog after all), here is the essay:

Courage

"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.  Be strong and very courageous.  Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left..." Joshua 1:6,7.  These are God's instructions to Joshua before entering the promised land.  Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger or pain, without fear (Webster's Dictionary).  I think courage is cool and awesome.

I think courage is trying something new.  If you have courage you can do a lot of new stuff.  For example, a trapeze artist would upset a crowd and the ringmaster if he didn't have courage.

My dad is very kind and nice.  He's a Christian and a good follower of God.  Overall, I'd say he's a very good man.

He's courageous because God called him and his family to the mission field and he listened.  So we packed up and left to almost an unknown place: Scotland.  He took very good care of us in such a confusing place.  The main point is that he is courageous for following God.

Both my dad and Joshua listened to God and brought others to a new land.  My dad brought us and Joshua brought the Israelites.  "Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)


The kid who wrote this essay is the same kid who started tennis lessons last week.  The boy walked onto the court to face kids he didn't know and coaches with thick accents.  He is incredibly uncoordinated when it comes to making contact with a moving target.  But he fought back fear and walked onto the court.  At the end of the hour, despite a lot of failure, he walked off the court with a huge smile on his face.  We went back again today.  He is improving, slowly, but he is still not the best on the court.  I don't care if Jason ever plays professional sports, college sports or even high school sports.  Honestly, I just want him to be courageous, walk onto the court, do his best, and walk off with a smile on his face.

So there it is.  Again, I'm sorry for raving about my kid.  But I think he is cool and awesome.