All Set To Fly

August 14, 2014October 27, 2014 / The WheatandTares

I watched as my 12 year old walked into school the first day of seventh grade. He had on his favorite shoes, his uniform shorts and shirt; his laptop strapped across his back, and his wheeled backpack handle tight within his grasp. As I looked on, I saw a young man entering that building full of confidence and dreams. I realized in that moment, I could have just as easily have been watching him board an international airline destined for the other side of the world.

He is growing up so very fast. The past two years have seemed quite like a whirlwind…maybe more accurately, a hurricane. Don’t misunderstand these have been wonderful years full of fun, wonder, excitement, adventures, questions, dreams and, yes, maybe a few tears…of course, those have probably been more from my eyes than anyone else’s! Yet, it still feels like a hurricane when I think of how fast the time has gone by. Our years with him are so very short! They just seem to slip by, as if each one is a tiny grain of sand, sliding through my fingertips, and we don’t ever get those years back. Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever, and we’re simply left with the cherished memories we made or the aching regret of what has vanished.

So, I will continue to treasure the minutes I have with him. I will open my eyes to see the valiant man he is becoming and remember the boyhood hero he once was. I will open my ears to hear the heart of a dreamer with goals and visions of tomorrow, and I will reminisce of the childhood imaginations that brought him here. I will release him to live, to dream, to become as I clutch tightly the memoirs of the little boy who came to be.

One day soon, he will fly far, far away……I pray he will remember to look back and wave……my heart aches…

Mighty Man of Valor

July 30, 2014August 13, 2014 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

My husband and I have a running joke that we each get “hit on” about once every 5-10 years, and even then, “the hit” is by someone who is either inebriated or just REALLY scary! Well, today was my day…my official “come on” from the opposite sex happened, and I was driving down the road in a golf cart with my two boys! LOL. If that wasn’t funny enough, the guy was standing on the side of the road pointing at me, then giving the universal sign for “call me.” It was so comical, I almost busted out laughing as we drove by him. However, what happen next, brought pride to my heart and tears to my eyes. We drove on, and my 12 year old son said, “Mom, if I find that guy, I’m gonna kill him.” We pulled into the Dollar General, as I said, “No, son, there’s no need to kill him. If a man’s gonna hit on a woman over 40 with her two kids on board, he’s gotta be incredibly desperate! But I do thank you for the honor.” We parked, and I started toward the door; however, when I turned to make sure both boys were with me, I realized my oldest child had walked the other way, crossed the side street, and was looking down the highway, looking for that man. I proceeded to call for him to come back and join me, but his valiant gesture, at protecting my honor, still makes me teary-eyed as I write this tonight.
He may be young, and as he’s growing into a teenager, we may have days when we struggle in our child-to-adult relationship, one which is quickly evolving into the much needed adult-to-adult relationship, but he is still a mighty man of valor. He has a code of honor to which he believes every man should uphold, and if that man does not, he is appalled and demands to know why! He believes in God, family and country (in that order), and can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t. He aspires for great things in life, and believes he will achieve them, as well, he trusts anyone can reach their dreams if they will but try. He may be young, but his heart is valiant. I am so proud to call him my son, and I pray there will rise a generation just like him.

In Perspective

July 28, 2014August 13, 2014 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

My eight year old was looking for opportunities to make some money; so, I told him he could fold the two baskets of towels in the laundry room. He enthusiastically agreed. Before he left the room, I reminded him of how we fold them; so, they would fit nicely on the shelves… “Remember to fold them end to end, end to end again, then, fold over twice.” (similar to many hotel styles) He skipped out of the room, excited about the bit of cash that would soon be lining his pocket. I was in the middle of setting up my new blog, and I knew it would be good to go in and supervise, or at least “check his work;” however, I casually thought, “Well, he’s done it before. It’ll be fine; I’m sure.” A little while later, he moved onto something else, and I walked downstairs to fix dinner..the loads of laundry forgotten for the evening. The next morning, I entered the laundry room to finish the (thought to be) forgotten pile of towels. To my surprise, all the bath and beach towels were stacked and folded, just as I had instructed my son to do…well, each one was definitely folded and stacked; however, the stack wasn’t quite what I had expected (See pics!). You see, my sweet little boy had folded each towel “end to end (2x) and then tri-folded;” yet, depending on where you start the very first fold, this will determine how the towels will look when you are finished…
This caused me to start thinking about how we all have so many different perspectives and expectations. Together, we all travel this road called life. Some places are rocky; some are smooth. There are mountain top experiences, and there are valleys. We will all encounter days of sunshine, days of lightning and rain and even days of scorching heat or a refreshing mist. Yet, where we end up in this journey will ultimately depend upon our perspective of the events that occur. If we face the journey with hope of our eternal destination; the days don’t seem so long, and the seasons seem more like a passing summer shower rather than a hopeless natural disaster. Having a positive outlook on life doesn’t mean we have to be blind to reality, painting a mask of imagination and fantasy. It simply means we hold onto hope that life is more than what we encounter down here.
Life is more than compact calendars, exploited agendas, failed achievements and achieved failures. Life is more than petty arguments, offenses and conflicts. Life is all about the moments when we truly live, when we actually impact the lives around us. It is about the destination we have in Christ, and how many people reach that destination with us. It’s about reaching out to someone more in need than we are. It’s about providing the comfort or the encouraging word to help our fellow man just make it through another day. Life is about more than what we see, and, often, more than what we care to take notice. Life is all about perspective. If we have the right perspective of things, the world will take on a whole different view in our eyes. With this new “mini revelation,” I looked differently at that stack of bath and beach towels. They were no longer seen as a mismatched, disheveled stack of towels that I would desperately need to refold, but rather, a stack of creatively corrugated towels which were folded by my precious, entrepreneur son whom I will only have around for another few short years! … It’s always great to see things with a new perspective.