Day 6

Saturday, the youth of our church had an excursion to the farm planned. Toby was not able to attend and while I was hurrying David out the door he wanted to know if I would spend the day with him there! Who could refuse that invitation?! The Smith's family farm is an awesome piece of property and the Smiths have transformed the front part of the land into a "redneck water park" of sorts. 

Choosing to stay afforded me several great opportunities. First, I was able to connect a little more with one of the phenomenal women of our church, Mandy. She and her husband joined the church the same day we did and they quickly became integral parts of the youth ministry. I appreciate how connected they strive to be with the youth and I am thankful that they are two of the people that will speak into the lives of Toby and David over the next few years. Secondly, Mandy is someone who will hold you accountable and encourage you along the way. Accomplishing my "first" of the day involved me learning this about her. 


If you look at the picture above of the fun the Smith farm offered, you will see on the left side two barrel slides.  Most of you will look at those slides and think, "whats the big deal?". A few of you will look at them and think, "no way." That is the group that I would have placed myself! No way! I am afraid of heights. Not just a little, a lot. I am better about them now, than I was a few years ago, but no where near excited about them. A few years ago you could not even get me to walk out of the tunnel on the second deck of Tropicana Field without panic inducing fear! 


I decided to do the slide as my "first" of the day. I could do this. No big deal. Wrong! Very big deal! Mandy knew I was scared and offered to do it with me! She would go first. The climb up was pretty daunting and she was at the top when I was only a few feet off the ground. I couldn't do it. I froze. I asked her to go down the slide so I could watch. She obliged! 


After watching her do it, I got a little more brave and said I could do it too! Once again she headed up the ladder and called for me to come up! This time I made it to the top! She let me ask her a ton of questions. Do I sit this way or this? What does it feel like? What happens when...? Some questions I probably asked more than once or twice! She answered every one! She was a true encouragement. A trusted adviser. I was finally ready to take the plunge. 

I did it!!!!! Thank you Mandy!!!


The last opportunity I had that day, was that I was able to watch David hanging out with his friends, just being a goofball! This really made me happy because after knowing Jesus as their personal Lord and savior, I want nothing more than for my boys to be comfortable in their own skin, to be goofballs if they want and just laugh at the sheer joy of life!

A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.

Proverbs 17:22/msg

A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face. Proverbs 15:13a/msg

Day 2

COD. Today I played Call of Duty (COD) for the first time in my life. It doesn't sound life changing, some days my firsts won't be, but although not life changing it was a fun experience that I got to share with my youngest son David.

As a mom of three boys (now all teenagers) it is hard to find things that they really WANT to do with me, one on one, that doesn't involve moans, groans or sighs. So, today when I asked David if he would like to teach me to play COD, it made my heart smile when he excitedly jumped up to grab the controllers and plopped down on the couch next to me.

After handing me a controller David began rambling off instructions and tips. He promised he wouldn't "kill" me right off the bat and he kept that promise. He was very patient with me as I tried to negotiate the controllers and all ten, TEN!!! buttons, knobs, flicker, do-hickey thingamabobs that had to be manipulated ALL AT THE SAME TIME, oh AND watch the screen. The top of the screen, not the bottom, because that was not my guy, the top. 

Let's just say this, gaming is NOT my thing. But, it was fun. The best part of the experience was just getting to sit shoulder to shoulder with my son and really kind of marvel at how his brain works; detailed and precise (he will be an incredible engineer one day). 

I'm a girl, so I crave face time, but guys are wired differently, they don't need face time, they need shoulder time and in this house full of boys {Steve included} I've got plenty of opportunities for that!

Steve arrived home at the end of our gaming experience, as I was ready to call it quits, and confiscated David's controller. He thought it would be fun to play me. He was just a little too eager to take my guy {me} out and I discovered that if I held one of the knobby thingamjigs to the side my guy would look up to the ceiling and spin around and around and around... wheeeeeeeeee! Game over.