Sunday, September 30, 2007

Born...No....Made

The boys are both in flag football right now, which means lots and lots of practices to sit through. I usually use this time to catch up on some reading that I might not normally have the benefit of enjoying. Back at Christmas time, I had asked for the book, "Wild at Heart". I figured that I live in a house of boys, so it might be a great insight for me into the workings of the male wiring.

I couldn't find a more appropriate book to read during football practice! The book explains how much God intended for men and boys to be adventurous, and to seek out danger. I'm reading all of this while watching my kids run into other kids (they say it's flag football, but someone always gets knocked to the ground). It has helped me to understand the boys a lot more, seeing how this was God's design.

Chris, in particular, is a very rough and tumble boy. He's told me several times that he's a "professional" and I shouldn't worry. He loves it when he sees fear shoot across my face at the mere mention of one of his stunts. He has a very distinctive cackle as he laughs at the thought of giving me grey hair.

We were on our way to his football game on Saturday, when he saw my book sitting on the seat next to me. On the cover, it shows a man jumping from one peak to another, with a very deep ravine in between. That of course caught Chris' eye, and he asked me, "What is this book!?". I told him that it's a book about how God made boys to be adventurous. He asked me what exactly I meant by that, and I summed it up by telling him, "Well, God made boys to want to do dangerous stuff. He made them so that they want to explore and play games to win."

At the mention of the words "do dangerous stuff" his eyes lit up. I knew at that point I had opened a can of worms! We got to his game early, and he had some time to play on the playground before his teammates showed up. A few minutes into his playing, he was climbing at a height that really made me nervous.

"Be careful!" I cautioned him.

"C'mon Mom! You said yourself...God MADE me to be dangerous!".

Oy!

The rest of the morning, he was reveling in the fact that all of his courage to do dangerous stunts was how he was designed. He told me, as often as he could, while performing risky positions, that he was made to do this stuff. He started to tell me that he was born to do this, and he stopped himself mid-sentence.

"I was born....no....MADE to do dangerous stuff!" He seemed to have an understanding, deep inside him, that God had knit him together for adventure. It wasn't something he learned, but it was a part of how he was made. It wasn't something that happened after he was in this world. It was something that was a part of his world.

With a deliberate cackle, he went on about his play. Climbing, bouncing, balancing, and tumbling.

And then he played football.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Flag Football

Jacob is number 2 (in yellow). See photos here.
Chris is number 4 (in blue). See photos here.

Download the video here to play in your local player or watch it below.









Thursday, September 13, 2007

Semi-Deep Thoughts for Thursday

I find myself to be a deep thinker at times. Not all the time, but sometimes. Something will be said or I'll see an event, and it gets my gears turning.

I was dropping Jake off at school this morning, and we were talking about how he's seen some teenagers do some really dumb things. There is a group of teenagers on our block who like to skateboard. It's a very stunt heavy activity. Jake witnessed one of them jumping off a ramp and going down over a 5ft retaining wall. Even at age 9, you know that's not a safe activity! I made a comment to him that I'm praying that he and Chris will be wise teenagers. I am truly praying for that. I want them to have the balance of having fun as a kid, but also not breaking any bones, morals, or even laws.

I dropped him off at his school, and watched him walk into the building. At that moment, I realized how scary it is to be a mom. I'm responsible for teaching this child how to become that wise teenager, that responsible adult. I'm still trying to figure out life myself, and I'm responsible for teaching life to my kids! Yikes!

I remember when I was growing up, I thought all adults had everything all figured out. Now I'm the adult, and I know the truth. We don't have things figured out. We're flying by the seat of our pants! I'm amazed at how each day, we're learning who we are, what we were put on earth to do, and how to glorify God in this life. I'm thankful for the lessons that God has taught me already, and I'm thankful that I've been able to impart some of those lessons to our boys. I'm thankful that as they grow, I'm growing too. I'm thankful that I don't have to have all of the answers now, that as I pray for wisdom for them, I'm praying for myself at the same time. I'm most thankful that God loves my boys, and that He'll guide and lead them into being the amazing men they are to become.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Need a laugh?

When I need a laugh, I just go to YouTube and look for clips like this....

Friday, September 7, 2007

Jacob tells about school (a little)

Jacob reveals some of his feelings about the 4th grade...

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Football Practice


The boys' first game is in a week.

New Camcorder

We just got a new camcorder. It was difficult to decide what to get - we finally decided to go with a hard drive (HDD) camcorder: a Panasonic SDR-H200.


Here's our first video clip...