I love my boys dearly…
There are moments where I couldn’t be more proud of the choices they are making & moments when I just want to go hide under a rock…
Had both of those this past week…
A few weeks ago, James called me & told me that he felt like he was ready & it was time for him to be baptized. He said he wanted Grandpa to baptize him on his 20th birthday in the lake while we were on vacation.
For our family, that’s not exactly the way we normally have our baptisms. We normally have them in a church… and in our church it has the dual meaning of becoming a member of our church at the same time you are baptized.
So, there were a few “in the box” thoughts that had to be swept away by a few of us.
One thing none of us really knew was what was happening in James life that was bringing him to this place? Since he isn’t living at home this summer & contact had only been a few phone calls over the past month, it sure had my curiosity peaked as to what God was doing in James.
My dad traveled to BC to meet with James the week before vacation to find out what was happening in his life & hear his testimony.
Dad came back very excited about what God was doing in James’ heart, but didn’t share much, because he wanted James to be able to share it with us himself.
So, on Sunday night, after the littlest kids were put to bed. James shared his story of what God had been up to the past few years with our family (my 3 sisters, their husbands, grandpa & grandma, & the older kids). Some of the things were quite surprising to me… anger towards his dad & God being on the top of the surprise list. He always appeared to have much more of ahold on his feelings than he expressed he did.
How God worked out for James to be at Bethel College & what a blessing that has been… its mind blowing.
The girl that James is dating, Brookelyn (Brooke), was there too. She is a gem of a girl. It was really nice to have her there for the first part of the week & get to know her better. If she is the one that James marries one day, I will be very pleased with that!
Then on Tuesday, his 20th birthday, James was baptized in the lake by his grandpa with all of us watching on the sides… it was an incredibly emotional, special, amazing experience for me as a mom…
James went back to BC for the rest of the summer, he is working at another camp this week & I am excited to see what God does next!!
(oh, & he decided not to get another tattoo! THANKS TO BROOKE!!)
And… he shaved his brother’s head into a mohawk the next day…
This one looked cute with it…
This one, not so much…
uhg…
I admit, I was incredibly mad when he did it to Zach.
It was right before the baptism & I could so see satan’s attempt to steal away my joy… ugh… so mad…
I still think he looks really dumb with it, but he’s 17 & one day he will grow up, have children (and probably no hair at all!) and I will bring out these photos & we will all have a really good laugh!!
Uhg.
Pam
