Beyond Bringing Up Boys

Last year at this time we were up to our eyeballs in paint, carpet, new floors and BOXES. Tonight I am up to my eyeballs in luggage! Tomorrow we will leave the heat of Georgia for the frigid temperatures of South Dakota by the way of Illinois where we will be joined by David’s parents, who will go with us. My mother-in-law reminded me tonight that I should bring a coat for the Black Hills. She knows me well and had to share a sweater with me a few weeks ago when I almost froze to death in Tennessee. Well, not quite. We’re packed. We’re excited and SO glad there’s not a paint can to be seen!

Before I post the following letter, please allow me to explain that while I found this article especially convicting after our 9 months of church searching/hopping (ouch!), we did attend the same church in KY for 10 years! Dearest Career Church Hopper: I met you again on Wednesday, the same person smiling at me through a different face, telling me that you've been shopping for churches for months now, and that darn it, you "just can't find one (you) like." The music's too rocky at this one, you said; the preacher too funny at that one. The latest one might make the cut, though: you'd had the pastor and his wife over the previous evening for a little "dinner audition" -- your words, not mine -- and he said things that made you feel good and comfortable, things that you already agree with, so you're thinking about sticking around. At the very least, you could get your teaching from this church and your worship from that one. I'm sure we'll ...

Our oldest son will frequently take advantage of his middle brother, usually mentally but sometimes physically--even though his brother is pushing 80 pounds and could cream his clock! Don’t gasp! (I’ve asked around and ours isn’t the only home that has this struggle). This has really bothered me. Not only is this not Christ-like, it isn’t good friendship either. So following an incident where I saw younger brother outwitted again, I thought it was time for an intervention. The book, A Bargain For Frances , came to mind, where Frances is often out-maneuvered by her friend, Thelma. This level 2 reading book is several years beneath Zachary’s reading capabilities but I asked Zachary to write a paper about any similarities he sees between himself and Thelma. I also asked for him to include changes that were necessary to maintain good friendship and Christ-like behavior. His paper brought tears to my eyes and a new self-awareness to him about the “necessity “ he feels to outsmart his ...

(Zachary with Mrs. D, his favorite 5th grade teacher) Today marked another milestone in Zachary’s life; the end of elementary school. Just on the horizon is junior high. I am always nostalgic this time of year, the reminder that another year has passed. It always gives me pause to think about how we are doing in preparing our boys for their adult lives. Zachary was blessed with an intellect that neither David nor I posses. We were stunned and humbled when he had his first IQ test. I am not bragging, this is God’s gift but we have been given the responsibility of being good stewards of it at this point in Zachary’s life. Consequently he has breezed through elementary years, from an academic viewpoint. This year had challenges of a different nature. Zachary is very social and while we expected an adjustment in changing school and states and all that encompasses such a move, we didn’t foresee how difficult this year would be on him…or us. Attending a new school i...

Last night when Zach got home from church, he told us that Mark Hall had just received sad, sad news about the tragic death of the youngest daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman .(The last sentence is a live link to the newspaper...for some reason blogger is not showing my links in different colors!) Maria Sue Chapman (2003-2008) Maria Sue Chapman, adopted and youngest daughter to Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, was killed Wednesday night in a tragic accident in the family driveway on Wednesday evening. She was LifeFlighted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital but for only reasons God can explain she went home to Him... not to Franklin as we all so desperately wanted. Your prayers are needed for all in the Chapman family. This is a family who has so generously loved and given to so many. Just hours before this close knit family was celebrating the engagement of the oldest daughter Emily Chapman, and were just hours away from a graduation party marking Caleb Chapman's completion o...

I have been huffing and puffing through my morning exercise, wondering how on the earth I got SO out of shape! After a night of sitting up in the chair, with a fan blowing on my face to feel like I could breathe, I decided that a trip to see the doc was in order. There is a reason that I have been huffing…pneumonia! My temp is creeping up and after what I went through in late Feb, this makes me a little nervous. I’m thinking that I must be very slow to learn what God is trying to teach me since He continues to allow these medical issues to grind my life to a very slow pace, if not a halt! :-)

About 1 year ago, we first brought the boys with us to Georgia to visit the school they would be attending (and David would be teaching)this year. David had taught in Kentucky for 10 years and so basically Zachary had spent almost 9 years of his life in and out of that building. The first few--just visiting daddy and K-4 in elementary school. The boys were so overwhelmed the day we visited here at the size of the school and the prospects of making new friends. Today was the program for the first graders. It was so sweet. I saw happiness written on the face of Samuel, so comfortable with his class and friends. Zachary burst in the door tonight after church, so excited to talk about the service, where the leader of Casting Crowns, Mark Hall, speaks. And David speaks often about what a privilege it is to get paid for what he loves to do. Since I don't visit the school often, I still feel a sense of uncertainty when I walk through the doors. It is large and overwhleming! Today, h...