Boys will be boys...

The devotional this morning was entitled, “The Cross” and it talked about the return of the prodigal son. I think back to when I had Rico at age 17 and how we grew up together and today we are finally in our perspective roles of mother and son instead of being mistaken for “brother and sister.” How I relish in being able to see him grow into a young man filled with God’s love and His compassion. In no way am I implying that I am God, but I am the mother of a Son and just like the Heavenly Father I want all the best for my children and hope that they will have a legacy to leave for their children.
As stated in the devotional, “no other created being gets to experience God at this level of intimacy like we do. No other of the beings God created get to experience the depth of His closeness and tenderness in times of heartache and desperation like we do. Out of all His creations, God chose us to know Him this deeply.”

As we all know God does not play favorites. One sin is no greater than another; therefore, all His children are also treated equally. Being the mother of two children, I am learning there really is no way to love one child more than the other; although, I may treat them differently (mostly due to the age gap) each one is no better than the other. Yesterday (Friday), I agreed to work the clean up after the week of VBS at our church and because my husband had a basketball tournament, Rico took his place as my helper. In order to save on gas, we stayed in Evans waiting for the event to be over. We shared burritos at Taco Bell and engaged in some casual conversation. I missed having this one on one time with him. He is growing up so fast and I worry that because I have so much going on that he will engage in activities that he shouldn’t due to peer pressure, wanting attention or just because he has nothing better to do. I try to make sure that I sit down with him and eat dinner or at least one meal a day to see what is going on in his life.
In one hour I don’t think I have laughed so hard in my life. He has the sweetest disposition and I am sure I am partial to this because he is my son. We reminisced about what we used to do and why I began working at the church, even his father and just a host of other questions that I gave him free rein to ask – just so he knew that I would always want to keep the lines of communication open.

Here are some of his jokes from back in the day that we conjured up:

From age 3
Rico: Knock knock
Me: Who’s there?
Rico: Orange
Me: Orange, who?
Rico: Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?

From age 5
Rico: Why couldn’t the pirate children go see the movie?
Me: I don’t know why?
Rico: Because it was rated AWRrrrrrr!

From age 11
Rico: Knock knock
Me: Who’s there?
Rico: Car
Me: Car, who?
Rico: Car go BEEP BEEP!!

Okay, so he is a work in progress, but I laughed so hard!!

So in all fairness, I thank God for giving me my “Aha” moment with Rico. I have to remember that in reaching for the sky to give my kids the moon and the stars that I neglect to remember that all they want is ME. I am the mustard seed that God has placed in the life of my children (Mark 4:30-32) “Never despise the small things in your life. Never spend too much time reaching for the high-impact acts of ministry that you neglect the minute details of service. The massive doors of God’s kingdom swing on tiny hinges of our faith and obedience. Focus on the hinges, and you’ll see the doors open wide.” (Journey, June 2009)