If It's Wednesday, It is a Word from your Mama...to Kenton

If It’s Wednesday, It is a Word from your Mama….

 

“Great Heart, My Son Kenton”

 

Mama’s watch over their children.  You are no exception.  I watched you when you were first born by thirteen minutes before your brother.  They put you in an isolet and I awaited your cry….which did not come immediately.  Concerned, I asked the doctor what was wrong and he said, “he’s waiting…he knows his brother is yet to come.  Wait, once his brother is born, then he will cry.”  And, Dr. Hager was correct.  The minute your brother was born, you cried loud and clear. 

I watched you watch your brother in the isolet while we had to stay because he had jaundice so bad they had to put him under the “lights”.  Your little “trying-to-focus” eyes would search for him next to you.  It was a common occurrence for me to check on you both and you would have your thumb in your brother’s mouth like a pacifier and/or you would have an arm wrapped around him.  These things are truths about you…even as a newborn infant. 

I watched you do things “first” when we were expecting your more active and assertive brother to go first.  You were first to roll over, first to crawl and first to walk.  However, this was not expected because you were so quiet and calm.  It seemed as if your younger brother would do things ahead of you, but he did not. 

While I didn’t watch this happen, this event was relayed to me by your Dad….when you were five, the three of you (dad, brother and you) were at a basketball game.  Your brother was bouncing a basketball as large as was he and he was good!  You were playing several yards away.  A bigger kid (probably 6 or 7) walked over to your brother and tried to take the ball from him.  The big kid was winning until you…..you ran as fast as you can and tackled the big kid, causing him to drop the ball.  Your brother ran over, collected his ball, and started dribbling it again and you went back to your own play.  Like nothing happened.  Like that is what “big” brothers do, even if they are only big by 13 minutes.

There are so many times in your life where you calmly and carefully took control of situations with no fanfare or applause, quietly going about your business of playing and having fun!  I have many of them journaled in your “K” journal…..they are little treasured moments in my heart which I never want to forget. 

From an early age, your strong yet kind heart was evidenced by your behavior, actions and words.  Yours is a heart I prayed diligently for even before you were born….stoic, strong, kind, tender and Godly.

And, while at seventeen, it sometimes gets hidden behind a façade of “being cool” or surviving in a world of teenaged angst, there never is a moment I cannot see is shining through in your actions and behaviors, words and deeds. 

And, I am so very grateful. 

You have a very high sense of right and wrong, bad versus good, Godly versus sinful.  Does that mean you perfectly live as you should?  No, I think we both know better than that.  But, ultimately, at the end of the day, you seem to always revert to the great heart you are and are meant to be.

 Your sense of “fair play”, honest evaluation, taking time to get the bigger picture of individual is a joy to watch develop.  You have a heart which seems to want to “do right” and that speaks volumes.

You are just now “emerging” into the person God intends you to be and it is such a joy to watch.  You are figuring out who you are and what you stand for.  You ask good questions about hard issues in difficult circumstances. 

I don’t know how to word this, but I like watching your heart “at work”…..you make decisions which we are able to view and I am really touched by your sincerity and kindness.  You save hard for a car and yet will loan funds to a friend in need.  You do more than your share on projects, keeping gas in the car and helping me.

You speak sweetly of your “friend who is a girl” and seem to want to “guard” her while she is with you.  I would love to have your sister find a young man to date who is like you.

You are honest.  You tell me when you are angry, hurt and scared.  You are brave.  You hold my hand even in front of your friends and when I express concern, you say, “Mama, I will hold you hand if I want to..I don’t care what they think.”

You are able to focus on others and not live in the self-centered life so many teens do.

You are a forgiver.

You know how to apologize.   

We had a little “argument” the other day about the car and I was very angry at you because you blatantly disobeyed me.  In addition, you said some pretty cruel words to me.  I was crushed because this was not “you”.  But, I was so touched….you came to me, asked if we could talk and sincerely apologized.  You didn’t make excuses.  You simply took responsibility and apologized.  And then you hugged me….hard…..like a son who was truly sorry he had hurt his mother.

And, then…..you said, “Mama, let’s not ever fight again.  I cannot stand ever doing this again.  I don’t want to hurt you like that. Let’s let this be our first…and, our last.”

Makes me tear up just remembering….makes me grateful.

I believe God gives Mamas children to grow Mamas into the Godly women HE intends us to be.  Each beloved child brings to a Mama his/her own gifts, values, heart.  A wise Mama learns from her children much more than she ever can hope to teach them.

I am learning many things from you….most of them about the “heart”….

Blessings, 

Mama