My son

My son, Caleb, never seizes to amaze me.  There are times when he makes me so proud.  He learned his numbers, colors and shapes well before the age of three.  At the age of four, he corrected his Sunday School teacher about the names of the three men in the fiery furnace.  He just knew them by their Hebrew names instead of their more popular Aramaic names.  By age five he was doing two digit addition and subtraction in his head.  At the end of kindergarden, at the ripe old age of six, he performed in the school talent show.  He recited all 66 books of the Bible in order--a task most adults cannot do.  Yes, there are times he really makes his mother proud.

There are also times I want to become an ostrich and stick my head in the ground.  If you have never met him, Caleb is very defiant.  He wants things done his way or no way.  There really is no highway option.  There are days when he is so disobedient and rude I wonder what we are doing wrong in raising him.  He is the kid in class that the tale-tales talk about.  He still can't keep his hands to himself, sit down when told or stand in a line to save his life.  Within his first year of school he was sent to the principal's office more times than his mother and father were sent there--combined for their entire school life.

The bus is the worst.  Everyday, literally, every one of them, when he gets off the bus I hear reports from the other kids on something he did to hurt them and get confirmation from the very worn out bus driver.  Yesterday, the bus department actually installed a 5-point harness car seat in the school bus for my son.  He is to get in the front seat and strap himself down so that he isn't such a hazard to others.  When I saw him doing this, my heart sank.  Yes, that's my kid.  The almost seven year old that is in the baby seat and still a problem.  I cried the entire day.

I am not one of those parents that swears they "wouldn't want it any other way".  I do.  I want it another way.  I want it better.  But this is what God gave me and He promises me to never give me more than I can handle and show me a way to escape it. (1 Cor 10:13)  So for now, all I can do is pray.  Pray that God will somehow use these experiences to His glory someday.  None of us know when that day will be but I know I want it to happen soon.