Friday, February 8, 2008

My Young Men, part One

Every now and then I am privileged to glimpse the character developing in my boys. If I am really blessed, I get to see that in both of them at the same time. This happened to me on Wednesday night at church. Dewayne and I help in the Wednesday night kids activities. I am in charge of the Worship time where we sing and dance and generally worship God with our whole selves.

~pause~

Lest you think I have a hidden talent for singing and dancing I want to reassure you that the only requirements for this job is an ability to push play on the dvd player and the habit of breathing on a fairly regular basis.

~play~

So Wednesday my guys were in two different rotations (we rotate between Worship, Word (Bible study) and Wiggle (fun and games)). Caleb came to me first and we began the worship songs with the group like normal. He was really getting into a song that has a pretty difficult routine (with a spin and everything!) when, all of a sudden, he spun and lost his balance. He tried to recover, but he could not before he slammed into the wall. Since he was in the front of the room, all eyes were on him.

~pause~

Remember being at the age when everything seemed so much worse than it was when you had an audience watching? Now imagine actually doing something that warrented a laugh from those watching. You are already painfully embarassed and the potential laughter can cause you to do react in several different ways. I really didn't know how he was going to react.

~play~

All eyes were on Caleb in the few seconds following his collision with the wall. These seconds seemed like an eternity as I waited for the tears or angry reaction to come. Caleb looked at everyone, laughed a deep hearty laugh, and said, "Well, that hurt!" Everyone laughed along with him, and the moment passed. It took me a minute to realize that it was over. At the same time, I realized a mark of maturity in my oldest...the ability to laugh at himself.

~pause~

We all do things (some of us on a daily basis) that require us to be able to laugh at ourselves. When we are able to not take ourselves so seriously, the small stuff stays small and our perspective stays clear. What a blessing for me to be able to see that glimpse in Caleb!

I was also fortunate to have a glimpse into my youngest son's developing personality...but that will be Part Two. Stay tuned!

No comments: