Last night Seth began to feel under the weather with a sore throat, upset stomach and a low grade fever. I could tell he wasn’t ‘faking’ it to get out of school because he asked to go to bed early and when I told him he would most likely be missing school the next day instead of jumping for joy he began to list the things he couldn’t miss. In his anxiety he was getting all of his obligations all caught up in one day. I assured him that he had nothing going on and that he would be ‘OK’ if he missed school.
Later that evening, just before midnight, he came into our room asking if he could sleep in our bed. (Please picture this almost 10 year old who is nearly 5ft and weighs 115lbs and we have a queen size bed.) It has been awhile since Seth has asked to come sleep with us and the more he grows that means the less room on the bed I get! He was laying there for a few minutes when I heard him whisper to me, “Mom, I guess the good thing about not going to school tomorrow is that I get to spend the day with you.”
Yes, my heart is still a gooey mess all over my side of the bed. 😉 I vowed this morning that I would rush into work and get out whatever emails needed to be done and ignore the fact that I have a teaching to prepare for Cornerstone Wednesday. The chorus of angels and saints in heaven were yelling down ‘You only get one shot! Don’t let him down!” So I rushed home after taking Ryan to school and sat with Seth as we watched, “How to Tame a Dragon” and get this…I know I might get some ‘cross eyes’ at this one but “Black Hawk Down”. We touched on both sides of his growing boyhood…the child side and the need to watch good fight the bad. He asked so many questions and at one point it worried me that one day this interest would take him into that battle. I’d be proud as heck but in that moment I felt that fear moms have when they hear their son has made the decision to be noble and fight for our country.
In that moment I said a silent prayer for my boys future and for all of the young men fighting for not only our freedom but the freedom of all of God’s people. When I was finally able to look at the last few days of the Bible study I saw how the message on those days fully correlates with what our service men are called to do – serve the poor. They are providing for those who are poor in resources to fight for themselves. “No one should seek his own advantage, but that of his neighbor.” 1 Corinthians 10:24
Seth and I were able to have a very ‘grown up’ conversation about this and it was a pleasure to have this moment of catching that glimpse of his maturing personality. But this can only last so long. Once the movie was over he was proclaiming he was feeling better, for me to take his temperature to prove it so that I would allow him to play on the computer. *sigh*
I’ll cherish the time we had today and I’m thankful that I moved outside of my ‘type A’ comfort zone to put ‘to do’s’ aside. Now I need prayer I can get this lesson together for Wednesday morning! 🙂
Blessings
Shannon