The Mom of a Boy

Being the mom of a little boy is all about adventure.  Recently I was asked to give a devotional at a friends baby shower.  Being the mother of a very active, almost two year old asked to speak to a mom that had just had her first boy I thought that I would encourage her along the challenging road that lay ahead.  By no means am I claiming expertise on the topic or issue of how to raise a boy but am coming from my two years of experience and my childhood of being the sister of a boy.  Here are the thoughts that I shared, may they be encouraging and enlightening as you interact and deal with boys.

Adventure

A – Anticipate : so that you are not always saying 'no'. 

D – Defer to Dad : Sons naturally idolize there fathers especially once your child is older. They seem to respect their words more so allow Dad to handle things some times.

V – Venture Out : be their partners on adventures and the listening ear when they come back from one – be their biggest fan!

E – Encourage : exploring, climbing, running, swinging and all other fun activities.

N – Nurture Independence : My son loves to follow me around when I work and 'help'. So I encourage this and provide him with a broom or a rag, or let him put the money into the slot when we do laundry.  The look of determination while he does the task and the look of pride when he has accomplished it is so worth the extra time.

T – Train : Prov. 2 – provide instruction and wisdom through example and your words

2 Pet. Virtues to instill Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly love, and love.

U – Unconditional love : President Bush Jr. say that his father 'gave him the freedom to fail'. That is what God allows it in our lives also. Mistakes are the way that we learn and I think even more so for boys.

R – Run with them : Trips to the zoo, just running at the park is amazing fun for them and I have learned to always keep a ball on hand so that my son can 'kick it'.

E – Enjoy them : for who they are.

These last words are the ones that my husband came up with when given the word adventure.  I love how different they are from mine.

Action

Danger

Violence

Excitement

Noise

Trouble / thrills

Unexpected

Reckless

Entertainment

Orson Scott Card

I have found that the longer I am married the more my interests merge with my husbands.  In asking him how I have influenced his life he did not have much to say leaving me with the idea that he has passed on more of his likes to me then the other way around.  All that is beside the point since I enjoy all the new experiences that I have had with him in my life.  With that said, it was through my husband that the Ender Series was brought into my life and I have loved every minute of those books, though I have yet to finish all of them.  My hubby was looking at other books by Orson Scott Card and found the series that was done on the women of Genesis.  The first one is 'Sarah' and chronicles the life of Sarai and Abram as they go through Egypt and transition into the names that God gave them and have their son Isaac.  It followed the biblical layout of the story pretty closely and made me look at parts of the story in a new light.  Card interprets the travel into Egypt, portraying that God lead Abram to say that Sarai was his sister showing Abram's trust in God and close communion with him.  I had always viewed Abram as one who was rather weak, not owning up to the fact that Sarai was his wife and then letting Sarai manipulating him into having a child through Hagar.  Card put him into a new light of one who closely followed God's call on his life and trusted God with his legacy even as he continued to age with no children.
The book helped me to see more clearly that even though our circumstances may scream that God does not care or is not in control, we have to trust in his promises, rest in them and be at peace that he will work it out in his timing.
I am looking forward to reading more in this series and encourage any one to pick it up and try it out.  I am in no way saying that all his puts in this book is truth but it did encourage me to look at the story in the Bible with new eyes.

Everyday Miracles - The message of Tron

My everyday miracles are the love of a savior, the daily companionship of my husband and the life of my son.  It is so easy to look past these miracles, waiting for something of Biblical proportions to jump out of my life.  An amazingly fulfilling job that pays the bills and allows us to move into a house with a huge wilderness in the backyard for my son to explore.  The hard-hearted world to look to and turn to God for meaning and joy.
When I think of a miracle of Biblical proportions the one that comes to mind is the parting of the Red Sea.  Moses was leading the Israelite nation out of Egypt after a succession of God interventions.  They get to the sea with the Egyptian army chasing them and God comes through, allowing the people to pass to the other side on dry ground.  (Story can be found in Exodus 13).  The people then set up an alter to worship God and remember what he had done for them.  The next part of the story is hard to read and I find myself yelling at the Israelites.  "How could you forget what God did for you and where you came from so quickly?".  For the people grumble and complain about the lack of food and water and end up making their own god to worship.  But don't we all stumble into the sins of complaining and turning to idols for fulfillment.  Forgetting the miracles of God, if we even recognize the miracle in the first place.
You may  be wondering what this has to do with the movie Tron?  For those that have not seen the newest edition to Tron this will not spoil anything, it is just my takeaway from the movie.  Kevin Flynn, the creator behind some amazing computer programs, has found a way to go into a computer, what is called 'going on the grid'.  That is his job to go to the grid and create a world with the hopes that some day this world will be able to interact, on a whole new level, with the outside 'real' world.  Flynn loves the grid and one day something amazing happens while he is there.  That is kinda the beginning of the movie and if I was to say more it would be ruined for all of you so allow me to get to the point.  Through Flynn's journey of discovery in this other world he comes to realize that the miracle that is most amazing and important to him in his life is the one that has been right in front of him, his son.  At the end of it all he would give up all of the other discoveries to be able to spend more time with his son. 
What is the miracle that most changed the world?  A baby being born.  Through this babies life the whole world was saved and given the opportunity to have a relationship with the Creator.  Only a few appreciated and even noticed this event in the beginning, the shepherds that came to worship and the wise men who came to give.  That seems to be the way that the most meaningful miracles happen, noticed by few.
The definition of a miracle is;  an event that seems impossible to explain by natural laws as so is regarded as supernatural in origin or an act of God, one that excites admiration or awe: wonder.  I like the second definition the best.  "One that excited admiration or awe: wonder".  Most of the things that I think are wonderful in the everyday, the sun rising, my husband kissing me as he leaves for work, birds singing, the companionship of friends, could all be explained away through the natural laws of life.  If you think of the ancient world that worship the sun they truly thought that it was a miraculous event when this great ball came up into the sky to provide warmth and light.  For those that label themselves as hard to love or even unlovable, thinking of someone kissing them is a wonder.  I could go on and on highlighting the wonders that God has placed into each of our lives.  But let me end here with this one reminder from Kevin Flynn, don't miss out on the miracles of this world because you are caught up in the possibilities of another.
Check out the movie Tron here.

Silence

Just wanted to share the evening I had last night and the lesson of silence that God continues to challenge me with. 
It has been a tough week.  My husband has had crazy work hours and comes home very tired out, so my goal has been to make home a relaxing place for him to be and to keep our son out of his way as much as possible.  Needless to say our son has since decided that he is going to be extra cranky and whiny this week, testing my patience during the day and into the evening as I don't want my husband to have to deal with too much.  By the time that Thursday rolled around I needed a break but did not feel that it was fair to approach my hubby with a request for time off so I just tried to go with the flow and be up for whatever he was up for.  Focus on the Family was having a free event Thursday evening for listeners and when I looked up who the speaker was I really wanted to go (a Mom was speaking about being a Mom - that's all it takes to encourage me).  When I mentioned the event to my husband he was rather negative about it and stated that he was too tired to go out.  Well I was very tempted to start harping about how hard my week was being a single parent and go through the mantra of 'when your at work I am working too and your long hours mean long hours for me, I have had a stressful week too and I need some encouragement from another mom'.  All of those statements are true but God whispered to me to be quiet and let it be.  I had to make dinner for some friends who just had a baby and then deliver it to them.  This family lived in about twenty minutes from home so we planned on just staying in that area for dinner ourselves and not fighting traffic to get back right away.  As we were getting on the freeway my husband says that as long as we are in the area we can stop by the Focus on the Family thing and check it out for a bit before we drive home.  So God worked it out for me to be encouraged and get out a bit and even though our son came along, my husband was up for watching him and he let me sit and listen on my own for a bit. 
Be silent and see how God works in your favor to give you the desires of your heart.  No nagging needed here!
Love you all,
Maegan