From being kicked out of preschool on the first day, to countless trips to the Principal's office before we chose to home school ... I have often wondered what God had planned for the boy. I still remember the day a school administrator told me my child would probably end up a juvenile delinquent by the time he reached his teens. I refused to believe that was true and made the decision to never give up on the boy so many others had written off as a problem child. (Incidentally, he had never done anything much worse in school than acting up in class and being somewhat awkward socially, so where the "delinquent prediction" came from never made sense to me at all. We switched churches shortly after the "potential delinquent" label was pasted on him and he was able to begin again with a clean slate as far as others opinions of him were concerned.)
With God leading the way, I have done my best to make my son believe in himself. I have worked hard to make him see that he is truly a "Boy Wonder" and that God has great plans for him. On this past Sunday I was finally able to see a glimpse of what might lie ahead in Boy Wonder's future. I was blessed with the chance to finally enjoy a bit of payoff for years of parenting struggles.
Boy Wonder was confirmed at our
church last Sunday. It was the culmination of two-plus years of instruction and exploration of
faith. As a final project, he was asked to write a Statement of Faith detailing what his faith means to him. He,
and three other young women (out of a class of eighteen), were chosen to share
their statements in front of the church congregation on Sunday during the
service. I am not just saying this because I'm his mama ...
he was AMAZING! You had to be there to fully appreciate it, but the boy
delivered his statement flawlessly. He engaged people, got a few laughs and
made a definite impact with his words. I cannot tell you the number of people that came up to
me afterword and commented on how moved they were by his witness.
He has also had (for lack of better words) a major personality shift since Sunday. It's like the whole rite of confirmation literally changed who he is inside and out. I told him I love how he is acting not only with me, but with his sister. The constant nitpicking and bickering has all but vanished. I know it's only been a few days, but this is the longest it has been so peaceful in our home. Today he told me the reason behind his new attitude. He said that he felt it was time to stop being a hypocrite. He said all the people telling him how proud they were of him made him realize that the person others see is not the person he is at home most of the time. He said his faith makes him want to be a better brother and son. Wow! If I ever doubted the power of prayer, I don't now!
Praise God! My boy, my little troublesome boy has become a Man of God and I couldn't be prouder to call him my son.
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With his permission, I share with you Boy Wonder's "Statement of Faith":
Like most
people, I am not perfect. Shocking, eh? You might not know this about me but I
am a control freak. I like know just how
things are gonna go. Lots of things. Not
just big things, but little things, and important things, and even things that are not
important at all. Just ask my
parents, it drives them nuts. You could
say I try to give God a hand with His job, all
the time.
My faith
reminds me that God loves me just the way I am … broken and all. He is faithful to me and more powerful than I
could ever be. Like Jeremiah 29:11 (I’m
quoting The Message translation here) says:
I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned
out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future
you hope for.
The first
time I read that passage I thought, “Wow. Plans. God has plans for me?
Really? Now we’re talking. That’s a
promise I can live with.” I know it’s
gonna take some time, and a lot of patience on my part, something I may have
some trouble with (okay something I do
have trouble with) but I think I am on my way. I have started to let go a little bit. As my faith has grown and continues to I am
trusting in God more. Proverbs 3:5-6
says:
Trust God from the
bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do,
everywhere you go; He's the one who will
keep you on track. Don't assume that you
know it all.
I have to be honest, trust is not an easy
thing for me. It might very well be something I think I will struggle with all my life. It’s just a part of who I am … but being a Christian is also a part of
who I am. My faith makes me want to try
to do better. I want to be a witness to
others and maybe my brokenness is what God has given me to work with. He just might use
my less-than-perfect life to show others
how
great He is by helping a
control freak like me to (like
my mother always says) “let go
and let God.”
The bottom
line is nobody’s perfect, especially me.
It’s all a part of being human.
But God is working in me through the power of the Holy Spirit and the gift
of faith to make me holy again. The truth
is I have a long way to go. I won’t be
all the way there until I am with Him forever in heaven. I know I am still going to struggle with my
need to control things between now and then, but knowing He loves me enough to
sacrifice His own Son gives me the strength to do my best to let Him be God. It also makes me want to share with others
just how great my God is.
And that is what my faith in God means to
me.
1 comment:
Wow
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