I want to raise a boy into a man that sees.
I send him over to ask if it's okay. He runs back all smiles - yeah, Mommy, she says I can.
So he is changing clothes and bug spraying when my phone rings.
Marie, Max just knocked on my door and asked if he can cut my grass.
Yes ma'am, is it okay?
It would be wonderful. Last night before I fell asleep I prayed to God to send someone to knock on my door today to cut my grass.
We both laugh amd chat a minute and then hang up.
His daddy gets him going and then he cuts. He follows the pattern and cuts circle after circle after circle.
And I watch.
And then my phone rings.
Marie, my son says he wants to send Max $30 for cutting the yard.
No, thank you, but please no ma'am. That's not why he's cutting it. I don't want him to think he has to get paid.
And then she begins to cry.
I prayed to God last night before I went to bed that someone would knock on my door today and ask to cut my grass.
Yes ma'am, I know.
And she hangs up crying.
I go to the window and watch. He's cut the same spot so many times there's bald patches appearing. I go outside and guide him to a few missed spots.
Repost from here - We were blessed beyond any form of our worth with three beautiful girls and my years were over forty and much time had passed since we made the unspoken bond of no more children by not speaking of it any longer.
There are some things that are very hard to explain. And the fear is if you try you might sound somewhat extravagant. Or like a dreamer. Or just plain foolish.
But on a night earlier pressed against each other I laughed loud and told him we just made a baby. I knew it. I felt it. I can't explain it. I said it but how does a woman know such a thing at such a time?
But I did.
And I was right.
And weeks passed and he came home as I walked out of the laundry room and right into his arms and cried and there were only three words -
You're pregnant?
Yes.
And I said words that were too honest when I wondered aloud why would God give us another child? I didn't want another baby or need another baby and why would I be pregnant unless He was giving us a son? Why would I be pregnant if it were a girl?
Some things will shame till the day we die.
And I didn't realize how badly I wanted a boy until the thought that I might not have one.
But I was afraid to say the words too loudly or too often.
And on a table too short in cold dark room I held the hand of the man I love and watched only him. And there it was. Wand moved and fingers touched keys and I saw it on his face before she spoke the words.
It's a boy.
But I already knew for his smile started slowly and he saw and looked at me in a way he had never looked at me before.
And then my excitement turned to fear as I realized I had no idea how to take care of a boy.
But I could figure the taking care of part out.
But raising a son?. How do you raise a man?
To be honest I had come to believe God didn't think I'd be any good at it. I guess He believed I was the daughter raising type.
But here, now, he was granting us a son. Blessing us with a son.
In this post I continue on to explain a promise I made to God when it appeared later on in the pregnancy that something was very wrong with Max.
I'm still not going to share that promise here in this white space. It's personal. Too personal. And it was a hard promise. One I want to keep but am not so sure I'll ever be able to. I think of it often.
So here we are raising a son.
Girls are natural care givers, mostly kind-hearted and compassionate. Instinct drives much of what they do. A mother's instinct.
But boys like bad guys and heroes and dirt and mess and often get wrapped up in their own little gross worlds, too wrapped up to just notice things around them. They go too fast to just notice.
And boys seem to not have chivalry in this modern age. I don't want the age of harlots and brew and turkey legs devoured around an uncivilized table.
But there has to be an in-between, because boys growing up now are missing the mark. Parents are missing the mark.
I want to raise a son into a man.
A real man. A man like Christ the man. A wise, kind, compassionate, loving man who has the hands of a hard worker. A just man who angers with injustice and a zeal for God's house that will consume him. John 2:17
A man who is not afraid of hard work and sweat. One who is not afraid to be gentle. A man who never tires of loving one woman and telling her so.
And I want to raise a son who grows into a man who notices. One who notices things going on around him. A man with a keen sense of what needs to be done and then just does it. One who notices a woman carrying a box while men stand all around her. Notices an elderly neighbor's yard that needs attention. A man who notices the child in the corner without a friend. And then becomes that friend.
I want to raise a boy into a man that sees.
