Oh this boy......I love him so!
I love all of my boys and I love my girls too but today my story is about this boy.
He has life in his bones that bubbles up and out of every moment he's in. He doesn't stop moving.....Ever....and he never has. He didn't sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time until he was 3.....oh the sleep deprivation!
But, with his never ending life and energy comes never ending love.
This boy in his short years has learned how to love completely and loyally and shows it easily and happily. He carries it with him openly and paints each day with it.
He is brave. He knows fear because it visits him often in his dreams but he is brave enough to know where he needs to turn to chase the fear away. He prays and then makes the long walk to my room because he wants a hug. Fear grips but he is brave enough to kneel and pray where he finds freeing comfort.
He is stubborn and it is woven deeply in his being. But we choose to see it as a good characteristic. Once his feet find a path or his mind makes a decision he is unyielding good or bad. I see it as a privilege as his parent to set his feet on a straight path where his mind will find happiness and peace in a world swirling with chaos.
Today was a test of his bravery, character and love.
When I picked him up from the children's class at church he said to me with a catch in his voice, a quivering chin and a tear in his eye. "I'm sorry I was late to church mom but I made it okay. Every thing's alright."
I was confused, "What do you mean?" I asked.
"I got left at home. I was in my room playing and when I came upstairs everyone was gone. So I came to church and I was late for Primary. But I'm okay." he said simply.
Immediately I wanted to cry. My baby boy was left home, alone, he was scared, I failed him!
I guess what happened was this; I left early because I was teaching today and needed to set up my room and things, I took Youngest with me, MDH thought I'd also taken Mr.Man but he was quietly playing in his room.
When Mr.Man realized everyone had left he decided to walk to church (what we do almost every Sunday) He realized he couldn't go out the front door because he didn't have a way to lock it again so he let himself out the garage and then closed the garage door and ran to church and went straight to his class. He missed about the first 45 min.
We had no idea until after primary and he told us.
Ugh! The guilt!
Oh the pride! Our little man was so brave. Not only did he figure out what he needed to do but he also had the clarity of mind to make sure the house was safe and still locked.
And he freely forgave us.
Here's hoping that someday this is a humorous story but today I still feel a little sick.
Oh how scary!! but as you said definitely brave of him. With large families that does happen.
ReplyDeleteSomething along those lines happened to me when I was little. We had a VW van and my mom was carrying more kids than usual, a total of six, me and my sister and 4 cousins. She stopped at a gas station, four of us (the youngest) got out to get gum from the 5 cent candy machine (without mom knowing) and she got back in the van and drove off with only two kids. My mom said she didn't think much about if we were all in the van because we usually laid in the back of the van or hid in the 3rd row. It wasn't until she got home a few streets down that she realized we were gone. And obviously the 2 (oldest) remaining cousins in the car thought it was funny since they didn't tell her we were left behind.
Luckily, our uncle was shortly behind our mom in driving to our house and ended up stopping at the same gas station and found all 4 of us there stranded. Needless to say he gave my mom hell.
It's definitely a funny story now... very Little Miss Sunshine with the VW bus and all. :-)