It is a fact. Add kids to your life and one year feels like a week, five years feels like a couple of months, 10 years feels like…you get my drift! You can imagine my surprise at the fact that I now have a five year old when it feels like just a couple of months ago we were bringing him home from the hospital to learn how to be parents. Jadon Maxwell was born on a very hot day in mid April five short years ago. I was so convinced that he was a girl that I stared at him in disbelief for a few days at that fact that my precious bundle was in fact a boy. I know the memory of Jadon entering the world will be just as vivid on my death bed as it was on that hospital bed (unless of course I have dementia!). Bringing a life into the world for the first time was by far the most intense experience I've ever had. I never knew that I could love that instantly and that deeply. I loved him simply because I created him. What a revelation when I realized that is exactly how God looks at me, only His love is magnified by at least a trillion. :)
Raising a boy is a trip! It cracks me up that boys seem to know the inner workings of each and every super hero from the time they exit womb. It's like God plants that in their DNA. Maybe He whispers in their ear as He’s speaking them into motion, "You will know the gospels of Superman, Spiderman, Batman and Star Wars." Boys are drawn to the good versus evil stories. The best part is that Jadon believes he will be a super hero one day. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Superman usually makes the list (right after he tells us that he is going to be an inventor of machines and that he is never getting married!). He wants to live a daring adventure; one that involves killing large animals and rescuing mobs of people. Now to protect that and not let the world squash his belief. It can't be squashed because the truth of the matter is, this world NEEDS super heroes. It is easy to teach Jadon (in kid appropriate language) that there is a good kingdom (God) and a bad kingdom (the devil) and the good kingdom needs super heroes who will destroy the works of the devil. He totally gets it because at the end of the day it's all about good fighting evil and the punch line is always the same…good ALWAYS wins!! Although tea parties with my daughter feel a bit more natural, I’ve been known to make a fine Superwoman from time to time!
As a side note, two books that I have found to be very helpful in raising my mighty warrior are Bringing Up Boys by Dr. Dobson and Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. I would welcome suggestions of other great books on the topic of raising boys!
No comments:
Post a Comment