Growing pains

Sometimes there's nothing you can do to shield your children from life and the sad and bad decisions made in this world. Sending Owen out into the world to go to school at the young age of 15 has been one of the hardest things I've ever done. It still is. Owen's made some friends and made the baseball team and seen and heard more in the last 5 months than he has in his lifetime. I've not enjoyed all the growing pains school has brought forth. Owen was born a different kid. Having three older sisters has made him different for that reason alone. Lots of days he has 4 women giving him instructions about how to behave and how to dress. So far he's been an easy child to raise. In Jesus name it will stay that way.

I know kids have to grow up but some lessons are very painful to watch. All my kids were snug in their beds at 2:00 Sunday morning when Owen found out through facebook a boy his age had died. John was sleeping when he came into our room to tell us about it and it kicked us in the gut. In the last 48 hours we've talked quite a bit about decisions made that can never be reversed, never be taken back. It's been a sad couple of days. The devil had a good weekend. I hate it when I can say that.

The one love Owen's always had since he was a baby was baseball. He's loved it forever. He doesn't like to watch it or talk about it but he loves to play it. He started t-ball at 5 years old and that's when he played with the boy that died the other night. In t-ball it was all about having fun and cheering and sliding and scoring even when you'd been thrown out at first. All fun and no business. But at some point in life, at least by the time kids get to high school, it becomes serious business. Owen's finding that out more and more every day. It's sad to watch it happen.

School was tough today because teenagers have a hard time trying to handle grief, and being a mom and watching the growing process is hard as hell. I've always watched my kids like a hawk but I've tried to find the balance between letting them have their wings while still keeping them tethered to the ground. It's a tough needle to thread. The fact is they are growing up and the tethering rope is about to be cut forever. I want to let them go but also to remember whose they are and hopefully they'll stay close to home. I plead the blood of Jesus over my kids and ask for protection from all of life's snares and problems. I'm not so sure it'll get easier as they get older because I can no longer scoop them up in my lap and fix all the hurts with a kiss and a lollipop. And in this process of letting them go, I've realized, my growing pains are far from over as well.

How did we get from this......


and this......


to this.....


Lord please keep watch over us every second of every day.

I cannot believe I'm about to have to yell go tigers. Maybe I'll just yell go Owen.