Vacation

I am home from my vacation and boy did it ever go by too fast.  I think this will be one of my more memorable vacations because I was able to see a real change in my boys from the past year.  Sometimes as parents we get so busy doing the day to day stuff we don’t see our kids grow or mature until you realize they are in blue jeans a mile too short. I had a friend a few weeks ago say she was definitely vacationing this year because she was afraid it might be the last time her teenage son wanted to go on a family trip. I didn’t put too much thought into that until the 1^st day of our vacation. 6 am I am awaken by one of the twins asking if they could go to the pool by themselves. I said no it was too early, went back to sleep without thinking of what I had even been asked. 8 am rolls around & again can we go to the pool now by ourselves. I said yes, still not thinking too much about the question.  Jami, Jack and I went to the beach & eventually the twins came down. They stayed in the ocean but to themselves. Then it hit me….. this is what most teenagers do. They start to separate themselves from their parents. The only real time we spent with them the whole week was when we went to eat. They stayed at the pool, the beach, their room or the deck of the house keeping to themselves. If adults went on the deck they moved inside. If they were outside they were in their own conversation. The twins always like to go to the Track & ride go karts. When they were younger they needed Jami, Daddy or Joey to ride with them, as they grew they wanted to drive against them. This time I loaded their Track card and they were off. They didn’t need us, just our money. Lol The last night we were watching the boys do a ropes course and Mom was just a hollering at Joshua telling him he could do it, he was almost there & he stopped, looked down at her & asked her to stop yelling please! Lol I know he was so embarrassed at his nana cheering him on.  So my boys started to act like teenagers with a blink of an eye. I am sure this will lead to more “teenager” stuff this summer and the following school year. I imagine they’ll be lots of conversations about can we go to the movies on our own or can you drop me off here. I don’t know how I’ll handle each of those situations yet. We have already had request to skip church or to miss a Sunday morning because they were sleeping over at a friend’s house. The boys do know that that is not allowed. If they spend the night off on Sat. night then I pick them up at 9 am on Sunday morning & they can get dressed at church. There is no skipping church just for the sake of not wanting to go. We have already had the complaints on that because others get too. We have a very open dialogue in our home. They boys ask me lots of questions and I answer every one of them honestly. Some make me blush or cringe but I rather just tell the truth & explain why or why not what they heard at school is correct and let me tell you the stuff they hear at school is unbelievable!!!! I can’t use enough exclamation points to emphasis that!! So I don’t know what the teenage years will hold for us but I do know that I look forward to them. I hope the boys have wonderful times as teenagers, make new friends & new experiences. I know that I am already in a lot of prayer. I pray for evilness and temptation to be removed from the twin’s path & I pray for Christian teens & adults to be in their lives. I trust in God who tells me in my favorite parenting bible verse, Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Proverbs 22:6. I have to do my part, which is lead by example, raise them up in a Godly home, teach about God and raise them up in church. If they stray I know I did what I was supposed to do & they know God. They’ll eventually find their way back to God! To me that is what that verse means. I saw a big growth in Jack this vacation too. From last yr. to now, he left being a toddler behind and is full blown boyhood! Time sure does fly! I hope you get a chance to spend some down time with your family…even if it is only when your child is hungry and you can pin them down long enough to eat a meal with you or squeeze them tight when they come asking for money. Children are such blessings!

Tomorrow night the kids will have SCHOOLS OUT ice cream party. Remember that the 6^th day Creations is coming to church Saturday night June 8. Hot dog supper at 5, then show will start at 6. Invite, invite, invite!! I need church folks & anyone else coming to make reservations by Thursday June 6 so I know how much food to buy. Just call 256-442-0120 & leave a count of how many people. I’ll have some details Sunday on how others can help!

Keep Ben Benefield in your prayers. His Mother passed, Amy Martin & the family at Realty Plus in your prayers & Brenda Jones.  I hope you all have a blessed week!