Friday, December 6, 2013

Still Celebrating


1 Thessalonians 5:18
"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Ten almost eleven years ago my life changed forever. God gifted me with this child. I had no idea what I was doing, I just lived day by day and did my best. A lot has happened in those years; many ups and downs but the one thing that has been consistent is that God has always been by our side. Sometimes I wanted to run away from him, and many times I questioned (still do) his plan for our life. This child is something special. As he has grown up, I see his determination, his ambition.  He is highly organized. He knows when homework needs to be done and he does it. I never have to complain about work not being done. Shuffling between two homes is not for the faint of heart. As much as I try to ensure that he has things where he needs them, sometimes it’s not possible. He has taken that liberty to ensure that he puts things in his bag that he needs. Somewhere  in my heart I feel a lot of guilt for putting him in this situation, but  a lot of pride and joy knowing seeing him rise above it. He has taken this difficult situation in stride. Suffering has a way of building us up that we would not achieve otherwise.

In the last month or so he has  been working on his Science Project. It was an advance idea measuring electrolytes in different drinks. I have never seen anyone so dedicated.  I erred and bought him the wrong type of presentation board and we didn’t find this out until he had mounted all his work.  He needed a trifold that could stand up on its own….duh!  Sometimes these are the tribulations of being an immigrant mom. Needless to say, we had to re-type everything..since I had not saved it and re-mount everything…sigh. He worked non-stop  some nights to make it happen, even requesting me to wake him up early to have it done.  It was all getting so frustrating because he had enough time, he didn’t have to push himself so hard.

Me: You have two more days that you could use to get this done, don’t stress yourself out. 

Him: I need to finish now so I can have two free days.

I let him work away, pushing past some bedtime on one day and working while eating breakfast on another. He was done before all deadlines of which there were a couple based on the phase of the project. 

So yesterday when I finally saw him at his set up, props and all and heard him present, I was sooo proud. He had to explain his project over and over to everyone who stopped by and he did great. Finally the awards, which we did not focus on, but I was secretly hoping he would win something. After all I was a Science major and I work in research. I knew he was a contender. So when they called his name, I had to keep from choking up. He is always so modest, he carried his poster to the front and displayed it. In a moment of excitement and trying to keep from climbing on the tables and moonwalking, I forgot to take a picture of this glorious moment. Luckily some more stable parent did.

I would be proud of my child even if he did not win, but I celebrate his gifting today. I’m so thankful to God for making him the way he did. Our family dynamic has pushed me to pray for him more than I would have if he was staying with me all the time. I’m thankful to God because of his continuing presence in our life. I’m thankful for my growing boy and I celebrate him today.

Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it. A.W. Tozer