If It’s Friday, Is a Bonafide Write From the Mama Lesa to Johnson

 

My son, Johnson…you was an early rizor…

Coming down to earth like a win prize fighter

Brother comes along and waitin' in the crib

Doctors said, “This one likes it just right where he iz”. 

I always dreamed a blondie would be my boy

Sure’ nuff you came…the real thing, no decoy

Snow white blond globe and real big hands

I knew some day you would really “be the man”. 

Nothing ‘bout you usual, everything a rapp

Words came to you early, you’re a wordsmith, ain't no sapp

Being born the baby, it is no easy task

But, you a great brother even if you did come last. 

From day one, you liked your time “under the lights”

Billirubin count made for lots of time to shine

The Grammy and the Mamaw holding you outside

Waiting for the day your body be all fine. 

Everything you did, you did real fast

Like you ‘fraid to miss something present till it in the past

You tole me early on, “Mom I be a baller”

I take the gym, the baseball field, heck I take the “holler”. 

You growing up so fast, you growing up so mighty

At times I be worried, you might grow up some flighty

But, just ‘bout the time, my soul would give away

Your heart steps in and then the grin…it be a Awesome day! 

I cannot begin to imagine, nor would I dare to try

A life without my golden haired who dresses pretty fly.

You keeps the beat of my Mama’s heart a mighty tripping thing

But, ultimately I know, you really love the King. 

From your very day one, we knew you/ your brother be so sweet

Two gifts at once, all arms and legs and lots and lots of feet

Two little hearts a beating, ten months all side by side

Almost more than a Mom and Dad and Big Sister can ‘abide. 

So here you are at seventeen, you racin’ life real keen

Sports, and friends and driving and even the date scene.

Some folks might be fooled by the tough exterior

But, not your Mam, that’s fo sure….cuz I know your interior. 

A heart as good as gold, a spirit built for living,

A mind as keen as anything, a body built from heaven.

The Master did real fine when He knit you in my womb

He had great plans for you….and, boy you ain’t no ‘foo. 

You’ll ready up yourself in all that needs in learnin’

You’ll grow great strength and courage and things to keep life churnin’

You’ll pick a Godly wife, have some babies might fine

And, I’ll always be so grateful, that God He make you mine. 

Now don’t be sniffling and boo hooing and cutting on some hanky…

No matter how big you get, I can always come with some spanky.

So, make good choices, focus hard on all that’s good and true.

And, all the blessin’s God has in store, will rapp along with you. 

 

 

Blessings,

Mama

 

 

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

 

 

If It’s Monday, It’s Mama (on time this week) 

Good Morning, Sweet Daughter…. 

It was good to have you home this weekend, to tell you jokes and laugh, to hear you sweetly breathing in your room, to watch you count your savings and make plans for how to spend it, to listen as you tell me about some of your future plans….sweetness all wrapped up in you. 

You are growing…. 

I see growth and maturity in you in so many areas and it makes me proud of you and for you.  I see a growing positivity in your attitude and demeanor.  Where I used to see a “who cares” mentality, or “life sucks” view, I now see a “I care” and a “life is what I make it attitude”. 

I see an appreciation for the life God has given you, an acceptance of mistakes you have made, a repentance and turning away from that life and a growth into a healthier and more committed to God existence. 

I see forgiveness in your heart toward others and boundaries in your decisions on how to live with some.   

I see focus.  Setting goals and accomplishing them.  Graduation in 2014, plans for trips to foreign countries, possible adoption. 

But, most importantly, I see you reaching out to God for direction in all of the above…. 

Do you have it all perfectly figured out?  Oh no, and that is okay.  I am 50 and I still do not.  Grammy and Poppy are in their 70s and they would tell you that even they do not. 

But, the foundation you are building for your life is healing and growing and  becoming stronger each and every day. 

I know there are still areas in your life with which you struggle. They are seen in your facebook posts, your blogs and your words, but even in those, I see maturity….a growing faith that God will guide you in even these things. 

I can make very few promises to you, even as your Mother.  But, there is one promise I can assure you will come to pass… 

When you give your heart, your life, your soul over to God, when you place it in His hands under all circumstances and at all times, then you will have the best life you can possibly have.  Does that mean it will be stress free?  Heartache free? Painless?  Only joy-filled?   

Oh no….it does not mean that at all. 

What it does mean that you will have a life which you will be grateful to have lived…..the one God has for you.

I love it when I get up in the morning from a night when you have worked from 6 pm until 7 am.  Obviously, you have been reading your Bible, because your facebook is filled with Bible verses (and, an occasional quote about men)  LOL.

Precious in His sight are those who study His word. 

I told Ian that you absolutely melted my heart this weekend when you were so overjoyed at finding your favorite, long-lost pink Bible we had bought for you.  I know God had to smile real big at your excitement!  And, it was a privilege to join Him!! 

What a joy and what a blessing for a parent to watch a child grow in Him…..these moments are little treasures a mother carries in her heart forever. 

I love that even with all you have been through, your image of God as a kind and loving Father has remained intact.  To me, that is evidence of a humble heart. 

I pray God bless and bless you in your life with just exactly what you need to live the life God planned for you even before He knit you in my womb.

I pray you continue to build a strong foundation in Him. 

I pray God blanket you with His protection from things which would harm you and lavish you with things which will encourage, inspire and draw you closer to Him. 

Keep seeking God with all of your Heart! 

For HE will never disappoint and will always be your greatest blessing.   

ILYAOYMC,

 Mama