All For the Prayer of an 8 Year Old Boy

From the moment we are born, we begin to change, to grow, and to adapt.  As little children, we learn so many new things and we cannot wait until the day when we are all grown up and we know everything there is to know in the world, so we can make our own decisions and no one can tell us what to do anymore.  Boy, were we WRONG!

As adults, so many times, we look back on our younger years with much more fondness & appreciation than is really necessary.  We often find ourselves saying, "If only I would have known then...".  That would certainly have been a dangerous situation.

But, even through all of our trials & triumphs, nothing even remotely prepares us for parenthood!  Oh yeah sure, we are so confident in the beginning, but from the moment that precious baby comes home, we find out that all of our expertize is useless.  What we thought would work, doesn't.  What we thought we would do, we won't.  Life becomes a great big cycle of question, worry, confusion, success, failure, & try again.

Nothing & no one can cause devastating mood swings quite like children.  One minute they are perfect angels with a look that can melt even the stoniest heart.  The next minute they cause you to question the decision to even have children.  They can go from "Yes Ma'am & No Sir" to completely ignoring you in the blink of an eye.

My family is no exception.  I probably experience this more since I am blessed (at least most of the time, I believe this!) to be able to homeschool our kids.  I have been on an emotional roller coaster lately complete with dizzying heights, heart stopping falls, & even a few gravity defying loops.  I have felt pride & embarrassment, relief & guilt, accomplishment & failure, excitement & despair - all in the past few days.  But tonight was a moment that will, no doubt, rank right up there with several others for pride, gratitude, & sheer amazement.

Austin had his last home football game of the season & from the beginning, things just weren't going our way.  He was having a very hard time listening to Justin & myself during the day & he had gotten into trouble for trivial things. BUT, I know Austin & I knew that these things would stay with him in the back of his mind during the game so we tried our best to encourage him before the game.

Well, they didn't even get to play the "5th quarter" game, which is an opportunity to allow the younger, less experienced boys to play.  The other team didn't have enough players.  This put the parents, the coaches, & the players in a foul mood before the game even got started.  They also changed our game time, so that affected everyone as well.  So, we waited & we waited & we waited.  It was a very close ballgame.  Austin finally got to play with less than a minute left in the game & we lost.  Blah, Blah, Blah, its just another ballgame.

Ok, here comes the amazing part:  Justin was talking to the coach after the game & was thanking him for working with these boys & for letting them see that God comes first; when the coach turns to Justin, with tears in his eyes and says how proud he is of Austin.  You see, Coach Brian usually leads the boys in prayer, but he asked a couple of different boys to pray tonight.  They didn't want to, so Austin just raised his hand & said he would.  Brian continued on to say how that really took a lot of guts for him to be able to pray in front of a group of his friends.  There is so much truth in that statement, but so many times we forget the power behind prayer.

I stand in awe at the responsibility bestowed on me & my husband with the raising of our children.  I am humbled beyond belief because a man, who, holding an important position in a sport that is usually not known for Godly representation, saw faith, courage, & determination in my little boy.  I am also ashamed because so many times my faith is weaker than that of a childs.

God, help me to be a better example for my children, a better helper for my husband, and a more positive witness to the world!