It is A Moment Like This....

.....that gives me energy to face each day raising Luke James. Millions of people have done it, raise sons that is. I know I'm not the only one on God's green earth to face the challenges and difficulties that are inevitable when raising a testosterone-filled BOY! He is impulsive and erratic. He hits, kicks and bites. (How I hate to admit it!) He hurts people's feelings, and doesn't seem to care. He lives out the old saying "My way or the highway." (Isn't that supposed to be MY motto as a parent?) Luke lives in Luke World. He usually isn't very sweet. He sometimes stinks. He thinks it's funny to make inappropriate sounds. He throws toys; he breaks the girls' special things (on purpose). He thinks its cool to be tough and rough and rowdy. And, he spits. All this regardless of the prayer, time, thought, and work Tom and I put into disciplining him. But this picture, this sliver of a second, that I captured of my son.... it shaves away the frustration and worry, the work and the scurry, and reminds me that he is, after all, a beautiful boy. A boy who God made full of energy, enthusiasm and assertiveness. A boy who God made to do great things. Who am I to try to drain him of his strength of mind. A few months ago, a lady I don't know very well (a mom of 3 boys) stopped me in the hallway and spoke directly to my heart... she said, "This boy is exactly how God made him. Remember, he could someday be behind the controls in a fighter jet. He could be orchestrating an attack in enemy territory. God has given him these personality traits for a reason. Don't quell them. Mold them. Don't smash his personality. Teach him right from wrong, but let him be a boy." I left that conversation in tears, for it was a message that I knew would stick with me for many years. Thank you God for our boy, and give us the wisdom we need to raise him to be the man You want him to be.