Preacher Boy??

This post was begun in April 2007 and edited over the last few weeks.

Little Buddy does at least one thing every day to amaze me. And most of the time, it is the shake-your-head-and-smile kind of thing. Maybe it's God's way of shining a small ray of hope down on us after some other unbelievable thing he's done that we are not smiling about. Maybe. He's always been a little ahead of his sisters. He read earlier than they did. He "got" math earlier than they did (whew!). He notices things. He asks questions. In general, he's just really sharp. I've seen it in his eyes since he was a baby. I can remember holding him and thinking that there was just something different in those eyes than I had seen previously in the older two. I also thought it was just me with a little more mothering experience under my belt. Or maybe it was my lack of sleep since those eyes were looking at me ALL THE TIME it seemed . . . that child seemed to sleep SO little! He actually didn't start sleeping through the night until after his baby sister did - literally! Thank goodness Little Girl was so easy going! God knew exactly what I needed when she turned out to be a girl instead of another little boy like I'd prayed for! God always knows best!

And so, I know that God knows what is best for Little Buddy. And even though sometimes I feel so unqualified to be his mother (what do I DO with the boy??), I do know that God chose me to do so. And I do so with MUCH prayer!

Over the past couple of years, he's had quite a few shake-your-head-and-smile moments regarding God. Here are some highlights of some of those moments:

One night before turning out his light, he told me about the verse they were learning in Upward soccer - John 3:16. ("For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever may believe in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.") I have never seen anyone (much less a 5 year old) so excited about John 3:16! The thought of living forever in Heaven was astounding to him. And so began the discussion of his soul and what happens to our bodies when we die and so on and so on . . . He was fascinated. And he had an unbelievable grip on the whole idea of a soul! It was amazing.

At breakfast one morning, he asked me if we were Jewish. Seems that there is a boy in his class that says he is Jewish (they've obviously been discussing religion at school . . .) and he didn't know what that meant.

Just recently, he was telling me about some boys he knows at school and an argument they had at recess one day (1st grade). He was so mad at them because they didn't believe in God. My 7 year old son was having a discussion about God with his friends at recess in public school. Wow.

We love listening to him pray. It's like listening to him have a conversation with God. It's fun to hear. I think he can pray "better" out loud than I can. I'm more of a private pray-er, though.

His list of things to be when he grows up changes quite often - or more precisely, grows longer quite often. He wants to be an astronaut. He wants to be a pilot. He wants to be in the Army so he can drive the cool tanks and stuff. He wants to be a construction worker so he can dig big holes and drive the tractors and back-hoes. We choked on our food one night at dinner when he said he wanted to be a grave digger. What's with that boy and digging holes? He saw a garbage truck parked in a neighborhood one afternoon and it looked like the driver was taking a nap. He decided that looked like a great job. Drive a great big truck and then stop for a nap whenever you want, too! Cool. If he fully knew what a storm chaser was, he'd probably want to do that since he's absolutely fascinated with the weather.

I, however, wouldn't be surprised if the boy turned out to be a preacher . . . Isn't it that those kids who cause the most ruckus at school end up being some of the best teachers? And isn't it so with some of the bigger handfuls at home that end up being the some of the best preachers? Only God knows . . . and in the meantime, I pray . . . if not for Little Buddy, then for myself!

Stay tuned for the next update, posting soon!