Boy Wonder has not always been an
easy child to mother. God wired him a certain way that has been a challenge
since day one. There have been many times when I have questioned why the Man
Upstairs felt I was qualified to raise him. Patience is not always one of my
strong points and parenting Boy Wonder requires by the truckload.
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":
What does
my faith mean to me? I could paraphrase
the Apostle’s Creed and say that I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son who died and rose
again. And that I believe in the Holy
Spirit and the life everlasting. And I do believe all of that to
be true but, I’d like to take the opportunity to put what my faith means to me in
my own words.
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.
Speaking of parents ... you know how "they" say kids don't come with instruction manuals when you bring them home? Well, neither do aging parents! Remember this little lady? Ever since her arrival on the farm she has been a little out of sorts. She's a bit weak and frail and I've had my work cut out keeping an eye on her. A persistent cough thought to be allergies turned into something more sinister during the Little Prince's birthday celebration and we had to make an emergency run to the hospital drawing the festivities to an untimely end. Unbeknownst to me, the elderly (heaven forbid she hear you call her that!) react a bit differently when they have an infection. Octogenarians get a little (or a lot as it was in her case) confused when germies are running amok in their systems. One minute she was coherent and almost instantly she was extremely off. My first thought was she might be having a stroke, especially since she had a small one a few years back. A thorough exam in the ER ruled that out, but revealed something just as life threatening at her age ... pneumonia. She's home now convalescing after a three day stint in the hospital, but her doctor promises me her prognosis is good.
In the midst of it all, The Munchkin (who incidentally has grown over an inch and a half in the last two months ... how am I going to cloth this fashionista if she keeps this up? Thank goodness for resale shops!) has become the proud caretaker of this little bundle of fur. Everyone here on the farm has fallen in love with those big eyes and soft ears. There's something so relaxing about stroking its (we don't really know if it's a he or a she yet) soft caramel fur. I fondly refer to it as "animal therapy time at the home":) I think everyone here would agree that when life gets a little out of hand it is always nice to have some bunny to love.
