Yesterday- I dropped my baby off at High School.
Yep, you heard me. High. School.
As in, some of his classmates drive, all (but him) have cell phones-so I’m told, many of the males have more hair on their face than T has on his head (true story), and grades matter.
Today- he turns 14 years old.
The joy brought into my life 14 years ago is something that I wouldn’t trade for a winning lottery ticket... I don’t think—but let me test it and get back to you
;-)
Whether some of you believe in this type of thing or not…I do, so here is our story. On Mother’s Day (I believe about ’92 or so) we were at church and the pastor was praying for all of the moms down at the altar. When I went back to my seat, T had tears streaming down his face. My first thought was that I embarrassed him, and had my skirt tucked into my undies or something… soon after he said that God told him that we would have a 3rd child and it would be special. Wow—powerful stuff, but….. I was done bearing Taylor tots…I had my boy and girl—they were healthy and beautiful, nope, I didn’t need any more thankyouverymuch. Again, I was the last one let in on the plan. When we discovered that we were again expecting in late ’94, that word “special” kept popping into my head. If you were preggers—what would you think of when you hear “special”? Yep, me too—but he was born a purple, peeing, perfect little man. Only later would I discover what “special” meant to Him.
Here is His definition of “special”~
-Happy. More joy than most teen-age boys. No sullen attitude, no pouting, no moping…
-Friendly. Makes friends easier than anyone I know. Everyone knows H, everyone likes H-no matter if they are 3 years old and listening to the Wiggles or 60 something and enjoying the early bird special at Golden Corral, he can charm them in moments.
-Compassionate. The “last kid picked for the team” never will sit there alone when H is around, he feels for that kid and will go talk to him.
-Loving. Hates to show it in front of others, but loves his mama…would protect me to the end. Very chivalrous to me and his sis.
-Talented. Read previous posts. This boy has a future in the music industry. End of story.
-Godly. Doesn’t hesitate to tell friends they need to do right from wrong. Wants to grow in Him.
-Evangelistic. Blows us away with the words given to him by Him. Guarantee that folks will join the Kingdom b/c of what He is planting in H.
-Beautiful. He would hate this, but he is—inside, where it absolutely counts. Because of all of the above, he is a wonderful creation…and I am proud that he is sharing my genes.
-Passionate. To know what his future holds at such a young age, and to be dedicated to that cause and willing to do whatever is necessary to attain it…oh I wish I were even a little like this.
-Funny. Don’t know if it is because he spends so much time with T or what, but this kid can have me rolling rather consistently. Love, love it.
Ok, ok, so I am singing his praises today. I don’t need a slap in the face to wake up to reality and realize that I am honoring a teenage boy who will undoubtedly disappoint me a time or two. He is not perfect…no implication of that here. But he is truly a gift from God. I often call him the light in our house. I think what I am most excited about is seeing what is coming in his future.
Whether he is a youth pastor, music minister, teacher, sanitation collector, helicopter pilot, singer…whatever…I know that he will be the best that he can…’cause he’s my little Hunter-man. And I love him.
Happy Birthday Big Guy!!!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
In a State of Son-Shine
Yes, I have finally returned. After a long grueling week of “vacation” in the beautiful, sunny state of Florida…I was oh so happy to return to my blissful surroundings of excessive laundry, mosquitoes, dust on the mantle and the exciting life of an administrative assistant. Obviously I am struggling with my return to reality just a bit.
As I have posted before, H had the National Fine Arts competition in Orlando, and we took his worship team, 2 female soloists, a quartet and a male soloist. Out of the mix our male soloist made the final 16 in the nation. Pretty impressive, huh? The worship team missed moving onto the second round by 0.33—do you see that decimal in there? It may have been a few years since I’ve done the new math, but I know that is pretty stinking close!!! They totally rocked!!! I was so proud of each of the kids—they handled defeat with dignity and grace…while the moms kicked, stomped, stuck out our lower lips, crossed our arms and generally looked sour. Or maybe that was when we needed a diet coke…oh, whatever…..
We had 22 people travel (11 kids—11 adults)—and split the housing situation 13 to 9 (7 bdr/6 bdr). H and I were in the larger of the 2—it had a pool, game room, 4 bathrooms and a gator in the back pond. Yes, you heard me…a live gator. One morning I was washing up some breakfast dishes and looked out across the pool and saw this “log” gliding across the water. One of the boys told me that I said, “No way—no way…are you kidding me…there’s an alligator outside!—really it was all a blur…I don’t believe for a second that I am really that dramatic. So, all of us scrambled outside to the edge of the screened in pool (looking back, that flimsy little screening wouldn’t have saved us-would it?) with cameras clicking and mouths agape. About that time we noticed two men walking near the edge of the water who were there to retrieve the said perpetrator (I’ve been watching Without a Trace at 5 in the am, what can I say). They received a call a day and a half before…but Mr. I-could-be-a-really-cute-purse-and-shoes…was a pond over then…therefore (do the math) he had somehow traveled to our pond. Now, we were not in the Everglades or Camp Swampy…we were in a beautiful subdivision!!! What the heck? Can you even imagine taking out the trash to be greeted by that at the garage door? I digress though…long story short…they didn’t catch him (the whole week), they said he was about 6 ½ feet (really?) and within 2 days…he had a friend out there with him (smaller one). Yeah, obviously I didn’t spend much time cruising around the mossy edge.
Other than the gator(s) our week was filled with fun, laughter, drama, food, worship, Tony Dungy, music, heat, sweat and a pretty blue convertible. Uh, huh, that’s right--we had reserved a full size car, but when we went to pick up they offered us a rag-top for the same price—how could we say no? The last night we were there, my friend Julie and I (we shared the car) decided to enjoy it for one last time. We pulled over in front of the Convention Center right by all the security guys and lowered the top, then rounded the curve and screeched to a halt b/c the sprinklers had kicked on. Not your typical little sprinkle across the grass type, but a huge Old Faithful geyser of water shooting 10 feet in the air and coming back down…right in the road…at the stop sign!!! Seriously, I couldn’t make this up… After shrieks of laughter and considerable debate, we pulled our best Thelma and Louise and blew the stop sign…and continued on our way!!!
The week was a great time of memories and fun. I hope that H always recalls his growth that week (let me tell you—I’m glad he’s a boy and not a drama-filled girl), the Hulk at Universal, free hi-fives, late nights, early mornings and dreams of his future and where he wants to go with it. I am so proud to have a fun young man of God growing up in my house that can make everyone laugh, make friends with anyone, make fun of himself, and enjoy life. Ahhh….life is good, no matter what state you may be in.
As I have posted before, H had the National Fine Arts competition in Orlando, and we took his worship team, 2 female soloists, a quartet and a male soloist. Out of the mix our male soloist made the final 16 in the nation. Pretty impressive, huh? The worship team missed moving onto the second round by 0.33—do you see that decimal in there? It may have been a few years since I’ve done the new math, but I know that is pretty stinking close!!! They totally rocked!!! I was so proud of each of the kids—they handled defeat with dignity and grace…while the moms kicked, stomped, stuck out our lower lips, crossed our arms and generally looked sour. Or maybe that was when we needed a diet coke…oh, whatever…..
We had 22 people travel (11 kids—11 adults)—and split the housing situation 13 to 9 (7 bdr/6 bdr). H and I were in the larger of the 2—it had a pool, game room, 4 bathrooms and a gator in the back pond. Yes, you heard me…a live gator. One morning I was washing up some breakfast dishes and looked out across the pool and saw this “log” gliding across the water. One of the boys told me that I said, “No way—no way…are you kidding me…there’s an alligator outside!—really it was all a blur…I don’t believe for a second that I am really that dramatic. So, all of us scrambled outside to the edge of the screened in pool (looking back, that flimsy little screening wouldn’t have saved us-would it?) with cameras clicking and mouths agape. About that time we noticed two men walking near the edge of the water who were there to retrieve the said perpetrator (I’ve been watching Without a Trace at 5 in the am, what can I say). They received a call a day and a half before…but Mr. I-could-be-a-really-cute-purse-and-shoes…was a pond over then…therefore (do the math) he had somehow traveled to our pond. Now, we were not in the Everglades or Camp Swampy…we were in a beautiful subdivision!!! What the heck? Can you even imagine taking out the trash to be greeted by that at the garage door? I digress though…long story short…they didn’t catch him (the whole week), they said he was about 6 ½ feet (really?) and within 2 days…he had a friend out there with him (smaller one). Yeah, obviously I didn’t spend much time cruising around the mossy edge.
Other than the gator(s) our week was filled with fun, laughter, drama, food, worship, Tony Dungy, music, heat, sweat and a pretty blue convertible. Uh, huh, that’s right--we had reserved a full size car, but when we went to pick up they offered us a rag-top for the same price—how could we say no? The last night we were there, my friend Julie and I (we shared the car) decided to enjoy it for one last time. We pulled over in front of the Convention Center right by all the security guys and lowered the top, then rounded the curve and screeched to a halt b/c the sprinklers had kicked on. Not your typical little sprinkle across the grass type, but a huge Old Faithful geyser of water shooting 10 feet in the air and coming back down…right in the road…at the stop sign!!! Seriously, I couldn’t make this up… After shrieks of laughter and considerable debate, we pulled our best Thelma and Louise and blew the stop sign…and continued on our way!!!
The week was a great time of memories and fun. I hope that H always recalls his growth that week (let me tell you—I’m glad he’s a boy and not a drama-filled girl), the Hulk at Universal, free hi-fives, late nights, early mornings and dreams of his future and where he wants to go with it. I am so proud to have a fun young man of God growing up in my house that can make everyone laugh, make friends with anyone, make fun of himself, and enjoy life. Ahhh….life is good, no matter what state you may be in.
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