*being grateful

He was supposed to be getting a kiss (she does give kisses), but instead, with eyes closed he got a lick!

I am so grateful. I have so many things that I often take for granted that I may not always be grateful for, but to day I choose to recognize an attribute or character in our youngest son that I am grateful for. O' Henry!  Henry has always been such a sweet, sweet child.  Always.  Now I am going to be real with you... Just few years he began to be snotty with me from time to time, he has shown disrespect to me occasionally, lied when he should have told the truth, sometimes doing poor jobs when he is fully capable of doing a great job and sometimes making some really poor choices.  But Henry is so much more than his short comings. He is faithful in his friendships. He has always sought the good in people.   He cares for the down trodden.

Just tonight he came to me and told me about a situation with one of his previous swim team mates.  He shared his hurt for her and her situation and asked me to make myself available to her.  You see her parents have made themselves unavailable to her.  Henry knows this, so he asked me to stand in as she would allow for a time so she has an adult to talk to.  I am honored to do this for him, for her and for Christ. I did my best to point her back to Christ, to encourage her to keep trying for intimacy with her parents as she desires and to continually seek God for a forgiving heart so she doesn't carry all that baggage around with her.

Henry is one of the most virile young men I know but he is also one of the most tenderhearted young men I know as well.  I think this a great mix for a great man! (I could be a bit biased)  At a young age he desired to have a deep voice, to be manly, to do manly things.  So, when he didn't naturally have that deep voice he developed a deep voice of his own from the age of 6 years old and held onto that until he was about 13.  Shortly after or around that 13th birthday, he got a new deeper more manly voice than every before. No longer did he have to work to make his voice deeper..it came naturally.

Just another peek into what Henry is like: During one visit to my grand parents home when Henry was very young, my grandfather took note of Henry's business. He surveyed Henry's thoughts and his following actions, noting little self control in areas that it may have been profitable.  Later that night my grandfather asked of my grandmother, "What are they going to do with him?"  My grandmother said, "I guess they are going to keep him!"  We did keep him, although on some days in the past I wasn't sure God delivered him to the right place. Often my patience is lacking, my understanding isn't there and the wisdom escapes me on how to rear him, how to protect him from himself, etc...  Then later I come to understand that these are the things that great GOD relationships are built on.  He is a good kid and I am grateful for the gift of a second son!