Encouragement for a Young Man

This is the week we've all been waiting for.....exam week.  If my son passes, then I pass.  If my son passes, then we all pass.  We've been shushing everyone all summer.  All of us try to tiptoe through the house as he studies.  It's been a summer of ups and downs as he does well on a practice exam one week, then not as good the next.  He has a good study day, then a bad one.  He has written 11 practice exams this summer, ranging from 5 1/2-7 hours each time.  He has studied 40 hours a week.  He has been in contact with others who have written it before him.  He's been prayed for by so many.  We've been to the testing center.  We've walked the grounds.  We've booked a hotel for the night before so he has no reason to be late.  And now, this Saturday he writes.....he is as ready as he'll ever be and unbelievably (except that he's prayed for) he feels great!

But there's been an emotional toll and a spiritual one as time and time again the enemy has tried to get him where he is weakest, attacking any area of insecurity or fear.  Yet, we've fought back and have been in awe at all the encouragement he has received at just the right moment - a text, an email, a phone call, by people he least expected to hear from.  

Exodus 17 was what I read yesterday, "But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other one the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun."

Isn't that just the perfect description of what my son has experienced?  The weariness, the need for others to support him in prayer, the emotional support from family and friends.  He knows he isn't the only one who passes when this exam is over.  He's had people supporting him under each arm, keeping his hands steady until the going down of the sun...which is a long time to keep your arms up!  All day!  Which is kind of how long the exam is!

Meanwhile, he was doing his own reading in 2 Kings.  This is the passage my son read yesterday.  

"When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city.  And the servant said, 'Alas, my master!  What shall we do?' He said, 'Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'  Then Elisha prayed and said, 'O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.'  So the Lord opened they eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."

What?!  How amazing is that....the young man only saw the horses and chariots of the enemy and felt afraid.  But Elisha knew of the spiritual element and asked God to open his eyes "that he may see.  And who needed to see this, but a YOUNG MAN.  The passage actually uses those words...not an old man, or a young girl, but a young man.  That was just what he needed to read yesterday.  So encouraging.  

We are excited to see what happens this weekend, though we won't know results for awhile.  We don't need to be afraid, "for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

The Water Became Sweet

I am now the proud mother of 3 trampolines.  Yes, you read that correctly.  THREE.  My son and my husband went up looking to buy one and came home with two.  So, add those to the one we currently own, we're up to three now.  We knew they were selling 2, but we weren't expecting to buy them both.  When RM and my son got there they saw both were actually in pretty good condition and the owners were willing to give them to us for an amazing deal of $200 for the both of them, which was really good to begin with as they were asking $200 each originally.  Once they were home and set up, my son went at it and he's super thrilled as they are as bouncy as he hoped, which means bouncier than what we currently have.  He'll probably replace the springs and resell one of the trampolines and a new trampoline buying/selling business has begun!  The funniest part of the day yesterday was actually seeing my kids FIGHT over all the trampolines!  How is that even possible when there are so many to choose from!?????  But, alas, no one wants the "old" one anymore, even though it is an AMAZING trampoline on its own.  No.....they had to be on the NEW ones, which are in fact quite old.....so funny.....I kept threatening to cut the trampolines in half so they wouldn't argue over them.  

A couple weeks ago, my sister-in-law had a genius idea to have us come down to Toronto to their driveway and sell our produce before they move out in a few weeks.  It seemed like a good idea, but could we pull it off?  My biggest block was myself.  It makes no sense to anyone else who has creative abilities or resources at their finger tips, but for me, I couldn't even make a sign to email to her.  I can't really explain it except that some people have strengths in some areas and some have strengths in other areas.  I love meeting people, engaging customers, working in the garden, making the vine trees, etc., but DON'T MAKE ME DO ANY KIND OF ORGANIZATION OR PAPERWORK.  My husband saw me floundering and said, "I'll make the signs" and within 10 minutes had one emailed out to her.  I also was a little stressed because I hate handling money.  I can do mental math no problem, but when I have 5 customers in line, I can sometimes panic and suddenly I can't add 2 + 2.  But, knowing I just needed to calm down, it all went well.  I was also very stressed about my pricing.  I didn't want to gouge, but I wanted my costs covered and I wanted it to be worth my while.  Everything was organically grown and I knew I was selling good stuff - would people be willing to pay?  I did have to adjust a couple things with some feedback along the way, but it turns out we sold everything and made some money and it was definitely worth it.  Might even consider doing it for a few more weekends....

Last night and this morning have brought both ups and downs.  I went to bed after enjoying a hot shower, but a few minutes later my husband came in and said, "We've got problems...."  Turns out I was the last shower that might have broken the pump bringing all the water to our house!  So now we have to figure out what to do.  In the meantime, we'll be driving to the coffee shop to use the bathroom!

But then, in happy news, our silkie hen's eggs hatched this morning!  They are the cutest little things!  We saw her sitting on her eggs and hoped and hoped they would actually hatch into little chicks and they did!  So far we've seen just 4 out of the 13.  But she's making herself so big and fluffy sitting on them all that we have no idea how many may actually be under her.  Such an exciting day!  My son will sell them eventually we hope and that'll bring him a little income.  So fun....

Exodus 15 is my encouragement, "What shall we drink?"  The Israelites go through so many lows and highs and each time is rescued in a miraculous way, but still "They went three days into the wilderness and found no water."  Hmmmm....kind of like us.  No water.  Though we had miraculous sales on Saturday, though we have miraculous births this morning, and gifts of trampolines for free essentially....yet no water and we complain "What shall we drink?"  So Moses "cried to the Lord and He showed them.....and the water became sweet."  Then it seems the reason behind all the trials, "...and there He tested them, saying, 'If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your Healer."  So, it appears we are being tested.  We must diligently listen, do what is right, give ear to His commandments, keep His statutes....seems easy enough.  Or not......We have a lot in common with those Israelites sadly.  We find ourselves in the cycle of ups and downs all the time, but I will say, I'm not as shocked anymore!  It's not that I'm half-expecting it, I'm just learning that reacting badly doesn't help.  We are always able, by God's grace, to find a solution.  We are never disabled too long.  And, like the Israelites, one day we'll  end up at Elim...."Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water."  That sounds a bit like heaven.  I'm not expecting twelve springs of water or seventy palm trees, though that would be nice!  I would be quite happy with the use of a toilet and shower for now, but I know that God knows we need all these things, so I will try to pass this test, along with all the kids who need to use a bathroom, and wait to see the Lord's provision and even "healing" of our pump.  "The water became sweet."  It seems the very thing that was bitter turned into something wonderful.  Isn't it like that with all our trials?  They seem so bitter at the time, but then in reflection they somehow become sweet because of the good that came out of them or all that was learned.....I know that will happen even in this situation.

Mother of the Year - Part 2

Well, turns out I don't get Mother of the Year award unless I go one step further.  That's right.  Letting my son go to the meet up just wasn't enough.  In order to get the award, I had to make one more investment, but this time it involved money.

Each one of our older children have been given a gift to support their interests and it's usually a fairly hefty investment, but each time we spend the money it's always been worth it.  Our oldest daughter was given a great camera.  She learned how to take great pictures and even had her own little business for a while.  Our son was given bees and bee equipment.  He learned how to take care of bees, make honey and candles and sold some for money.  Our next son was given all the materials he needed to build his own drone.  That taught him a lot about perseverance, trial and error, etc., as it definitely didn't work right away.  Our other daughter had her own little cake pop business for awhile and made some money on the side while we invested in all the materials needed to get her going.  I just assumed with this current child that it would be something along the lines of a computer....something SAFE and SMART.  But no.....this time....it's much worse than what I expected.  It's an, ugh, trampoline.

But we have a trampoline!  A really good one!  Why another one?  Because.....if you're a FLIPPER, then our's would be for "amateurs".  Now that he's a PROFESSIONAL, we have to get one that allows you to do all the big flips.  What have we done?  But here's the deal.....there were just too many plusses:

-it's my son's passion

-it keeps him active

-it gets him outside, with his brothers, all day long, all year (can be put in the barn in the winter)

-it's pretty cheap as it's on the farm, other than the trampoline, no special equipment needed!  No long drives to sports centers......

All in all, we're pretty excited for him.  We got a good deal on a second hand one and so it's actually not that expensive, though brand new it would have been.  He researched and searched it all out on his own and found this one by himself.  And to be fair, he doesn't have a job, per se, outside of the house, BUT, he basically runs the farm now that the older boys are gone most of the time.  He feeds all the animals, mows 47 acres all day every day, waters gardens, plants gardens, deals with all the garbage....he's never been paid a cent for all of that work, so this is our way of saying, "THANK YOU!  YOU'RE A GREAT KID!!!"  His birthday is around the corner, too, so might just be an early birthday present......The Bible talks about giving good things to your children.  This was one of those fun things to give.  

It's been fun watching him find out today that it is actually happening, but also really special to see the reactions of the other siblings.  Each one of the kids is so happy for him as they know how much he wanted this and how crazy he is about flipping.

This will be no small pickup - we have to drive over 5 hours, each way, to get this trampoline, but we'll turn it into an event.  It'll be fun.  And now, I will pick up my award.......

I'm Learning to be a Boy Mom....finally

If I am not Mom of the year for 2020, I'll sue.  Yesterday had to be the day I got the most votes.  At least by my one son who is nearly 14.  I let him go to a "meetup" of flippers.  What is that, you ask?  Well,  it is a group of boys aged 11-15 who all LOVE flipping on trampolines.  And not just regular flipping, but serious flipping.  The 11 year old set a record for a "quint" - 5 rotations.  My own son set his own record for his first "trip back" (triple back flip for those less aware of alllllll the abbreviations - that I only learned yesterday......add rolling eyes here).  Here's the gang that showed up:

Let's put it this way.  I am not a boy mom.  I was so excited when I had my first girl.  I knew I would be ok.  I had her name picked out (no boy name).  I knew I would be great.  But then the boy came.  That was ok.  I knew one boy would be nice to have for my husband, but that was enough.  Then a second boy.  I wasn't happy.  I didn't know what to do with boys.  I had really grown up with all sisters and I was 5 years older than my brother, so didn't hang out with him very much.  But then another girl, whew!  But then another boy!  Oh no!  Oh, another girl.....then TWO MORE BOYS!!!  I ended up out numbered by all the boys 5-3.  This was not good.

But the first two boys that God gave me were amazing.  They were compliant, obedient, kind, respectful, SAFE.  Maybe this boy thing wasn't so hard after all.  I figured I was just an amazing mom.  But then.....my next 2 boys showed me, no, I wasn't an amazing mom, God had just eased me into the boy world slowly.  The next 2 showed me what boys are ACTUALLY like - loud, crazy, fighting, dangerous, sometimes rude and unkind....see, that's what I was afraid of!!!!  My one son hated the safety program I took him to one year because he wanted to learn about DANGER not safety!!!

Fortunately, the last boy is a little more like the first two, so I might just live, but these middle two boys are absolutely my greatest challenge in the sense that I don't know if they'll live another day most days.  So what's a mom to do?  Fight it?  Give in to her fears?  Keep them in a box?  Make them be like their brothers when they are nothing like their brothers?  Let them do dangerous things?  I don't know, so I just pray.

Well, this is a new world and my son reconnected with an old friend online who also just happened to love flipping.  This boy's mom and I have been friends for 20 years and have all the same concerns when it comes to our kids and our faith.  They homeschooled their kids as well and he is their only boy who just happens to love dangerous things.  He invited my son over to this meetup.  How I wanted to say no.  I kept hoping there would be a way to get out of it.  Maybe I would have no car.  Maybe I would have to drive everyone to work right at that time.  Maybe my husband would put his foot down and say no way.  But none of that happened.  I did have to drive someone to work, so I was going to take him there for a little bit, but not for the whole time as I did need to get the car back.  But just before we left my daughter decided to not go into work making her car available.  This meant if we decided to let him stay the whole time then I could get him later.  When we arrived at the meetup, we found out the boys that were coming were coming from all over Ontario - 10 of them.  They had been specifically invited because they had made records of some kind.  I knew my son would just die if I took him home before connecting with these guys and I also knew he would die if I let him stay....of excitement.  I quickly texted my husband and to my shock, he said, "Let him stay."

My friend and I prayed together for the boys, for their safety, for wisdom and discernment, that our two kids would be lights in the group of boys....and then I left with complete peace that my son would be ok.  It was perfect...when I got in the truck a comedy show was on, so I laughed the whole way home.  A God-timed moment for sure.

Watch this terrifying video to understand my pain......

When my son came home he was sunburnt and beaming from ear to ear, "This was the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE MOM!"  He went on and on and on about how much fun it was, how great the boys were, how amazing the day was, the incredible number of tricks they all did......he was so happy.  I was so glad that it had all worked out for him.  What if I had kept him home?  What if I had made him do hay (that's what all the other kids were doing?)  What if I had allowed my fears to control me? Maybe once in a while living on the edge and allowing boys to do those dangerous things actually contributes to who they are in a way?  He told me himself that he didn't want to do the triple backflip.  The boys said to him, "You got this...."  Not in a stupid dare kind of way, but in a "we believe in you" kind of way.  That made him realize he was simply afraid, but he knew he had it in him.  When he did it, someone filmed him and everyone else shouted and encouraged him.  He said he felt so good inside when he accomplished this thing that he had really wanted to, but didn't think he could.  Maybe he'll remember that feeling when he gets older when he comes up against something hard and he'll tell his kids one day about the time he did the "trip back".

So that's why I should be mom of the year - I learned that maybe just maybe boys need to do things that appear really scary to a mom once in a while....not every day, please and thank you, but once in a while.  And I felt really good that I actually let him go even though inside I was freaking out.  To hear and see all that he would have missed out on would have been hard for him and me.  I hope these meetups don't happen weekly.  So far it's an annual thing.  My son is already wanting to host one......NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!  If I do that, I will be MOM OF THE DECADE, no, MOM OF THE CENTURY!!