Month: July 2019

Milestones: Big and Small. They Build A Story.

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The way I process life and all it’s happenings is through writing. I also talk Andy’s ear off which is helpful for me. He’s incredibly patient.

So as I process and now talk your ear off (Thank you to those who choose to read this.), I’m realizing that last week was a week full of milestones for our family. Some big. Some small. All significant.

It was Friday night. I was beyond the point of being tired or even exhausted. I was running on fumes. The weekend was packed and had barely begun. But my body demanded I stop and rest.

The previous week we had gone camping with friends. It was such a fun trip; but let’s be real. Camping is not relaxing. It’s fun; but it’s a lot of work. And it’s dirty. And I got 19 mosquito bites.

The day we got home I got a terrible migraine, followed by another one. It was not a restful weekend. Somehow I managed to get Lily packed for Jr. High Camp (Milestone #1).

Mamas, chime in on this one. Sending your first born off for FIVE DAYS without you and probably not showering is a BIG DEAL!!! Right??? And as I’ve been saying for months, Jr. High should start in 7th grade, not 6th. Ok, that’s another issue.

But we did it. Andy and I packed her up, dropped her off and drove away. Granted she was in a cabin with best friends and her counselor was one of my former students. (Thank you, Lord!)

Just a mere two days later my almost 8 year old FINALLY learned to swim. If you didn’t read my post about it, you can read it here. (Milestone #2)

Four days later my baby turned 8. Even though I’ve specifically forbade him to do such a thing, even begged him, he defied me and turned a year older anyway. (Milestone #3)

So on the eve of H’s birthday, I lay next to Andy, just letting my weary bones be. I took time to sort my thoughts a bit. My muscles were sore from painting Lily’s room that week. I wanted to surprise her while at camp. It took much longer than I thought, though. I did it completely by myself and was pretty much over it by Wednesday. ( Though I was still painting Friday morning.) I swore I’d never paint another room again.

Me: “So much has happened this week. Lily going to camp, Henry swimming, getting ready for his birthday party, family coming in for your dad’s big day, and painting that stupid room.” (Lily loved her “stupid”, new painted room by the way, so it was worth it.)

At this point we both drifted off to sleep. Andy had worked the night before and was operating on about two hours of sleep. I was hosting an 8 years old’s birthday party the next day and needed my wits about me.

The weekend entailed a jumpy house, 8 little jumpers, baseball cupcakes, a family birthday bbq and a big baseball cake. There were presents, laughing, eating and lot of happy memories.

I have an eight year old now.

The biggest milestone (#4) was my father- in-law retiring (sort of) from 30 years of ministry at SRBC, 26 as our Senior Pastor. He’ll be on staff part-time; but he won’t be the head guy anymore.

Faithful. I’ve been pondering that word all week. That is my Father in Law. Faithful to preach God’s Word. Faithful to his wife and family. Faithfully serving others. 30 years of doing anything these days is almost unheard of, let alone serving in the same church, preaching week after week and doing it compassionately. It’s such a rare blessing.

What a week, right? Some of these milestones were big and some were small; yet they were all significant moments. They tell a story about who we are as a family and where we’ve been. Most importantly, it tells about where we are going. Some roads ahead are clear and some, not so much. As I look back at our week one thing is clear. God was faithful so I know he will be faithful on the journey ahead, in the next milestone.

God’s faithfulness and his hand are so evident in all the events of that week and I would be missing so much if I didn’t recognize it.

If it were up to me, I would have spaced out all the happenings of the week. You know, to make life a little less crazy. He’s writing the story, though, not me. And what a beautiful story it is.

Hey Mamas, Trust God, Time and Levi

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One week ago, today, Henry learned how to swim.

This has been a long time coming.

Four days before his 8th birthday, I prayed and prayed, “Lord, let this round of swim lessons be the ones that finally click for him. Let this be the summer that he overcomes his fear of the water.”

Last week was a week of milestones for our family. Some big and some small; but definite milestones.

I’m still processing all the things (which is why you are getting this post today); but I learned a lesson that I’ve been in the process of learning since I became a mom.

The lesson is this. Kids are going to do things in their own time. There are some things that you just can’t push or rush. You have to give them time, trust God (And in this case, trust Levi. Don’t worry. Explanation to come.)

I’ve been taking this kid for swim lessons since he was 3. While he had great, patient, wonderful swim teachers (Thank you Grace and Paul! You are a BIB reason why he is swimming sans floaties right now. All those years of positive experiences in the water, finally paid off!), we’d end each week long session with him still afraid to let go of his teacher in the water. Still not swimming.

We’d swim throughout the summer. And maybe we could have exposed him to the water more often. I felt like we went to the pool often enough, though. Yet, at the end of each summer he was still wearing the floaties and still afraid to let go in the water.

So a few things contributed to him swimming: I think a huge part of it was just maturity and growing up. Every kid is different as when it will click for them whether it comes to reading, getting potty trained, or swimming.

Also, peer pressure. Nothing motivates you faster than seeing all your friends swimming in the deep end without floaties. Parents, don’t underestimate the power of positive peer pressure.

Lastly, I think God drops people into your life to speak to you in a slightly different way than others have before. You hear it, accept it, or just connect with a person in a certain way. You may have heard a message a million times; but a speaker delivers the same message in a different way or when you are in a different place in your life and IT JUST CLICKS.

We only had 3 days of swim lessons for an hour each day. My hopes were high but realistic.

Fortunately, we started these lessons off with him fully putting his head under the water right from the get go. But as Levi pointed out, Henry had a death grip (and he does). He was not letting go.

It’s kinda hard to learn to swim in the deep end if you don’t let go of the hand in the shallow end.

After the first day of lessons:

“Levi is not going to let you sink, Henry. He just isn’t. Even if you began to sink, he’s right there. He’ll pull you up. You just have to trust Levi.”

“It’s hard to trust, mom.”

“I know, babe. That’s the whole thing, though. That’s what trust is. It’s not easy. It is hard. You can do it.”

Second day of lessons:

Levi: “Henry, you just have to make up your mind that you are going to do it and then just do it.”

And he did.

He let go.

He swam. Across the shallow end of the pool.

He then wanted to learn to dive off the side of the pool. And he did.

He made the decision to trust and he just did it.

Or Levi has some sort of magical super power. Either way, the kid swam!

Later that day he was jumping off the diving board into the deep end, without floaties, and swimming like he’d been doing it for years. I was flabbergasted. I was grateful. I was doing a happy dance. I was so proud of him. I was relieved.

The third and final day of lessons was like watching a completely different kid. Where did this fearless guy come from? Two days later we were swimming at Morton’s Warm Springs with family. We had just picked up Lily from Jr. High camp and he surprised her by jumping into the pool without his floaties. Her face was priceless. His face was full of pride.

We asked him, “What made you decide to let go and just swim?”

Henry: “Mom told me to trust, Levi.”

Are you laughing? I am. It’s taken 5 years, and I don’t necessarily think he would have been swimming at 3 if Levi was his teacher. I think it was the right time, the right swim teacher, and it was God’s plan to use this experience to teach my little guy about trust. This is the first of many times, he’s going to need to trust God. Andy and I are going to be able to use this lesson with him for years to come. Hey, God is using Henry’s swim lessons to teach ME about trust.

I hope I remember all this when my kids aren’t doing something in the timeline that I feel is appropriate or convenient for me.

Hey Mamas, as you go into this week, whatever is happening too fast or too slow in your life just remember, trust God. Are your kids taking way too long to learn a lesson or don’t seem to be improving at all? Trust God’s timing. Trust is as equally simple as it is hard.

Are your kids needing to learn to swim? Give Levi a call.