I have this beautiful son... he has a beautiful mother and an extremely handsome father.
The mother: she's a quirky non-rule follower, BUT her downfall is that she is a worrier who suffers from a lack of confidence... in herself. Sad, I know.
The father: as cool as cucumber in refrigerator! Laid back and not bothered by anything. He's a real go with the flow kind of guy, not easily moved. Super easy going personality. Dream guy, I know. (he even does laundry & dishes!!) Be jealous!
In light of the condition that this beautiful son, his beautiful mother and handsome father have to learn to handle on a daily basis, and I seriously mean 'daily' because we don't always know what son we're going to get with each new day. So with this autistic condition, I had my expectations of what junior high would be like for him - not good! So with the impending doom of school starting on August 26, being a 6th grader in a darn junior high, every day was like a ticking time bomb counting down the seconds to an explosion of emotions (mostly from me!), sad, I know. But then, peace.
Here is where it began -----> He attended 'Bear Camp' several weeks ago (Aug 13), no parents allowed kind of deal... him and his group was paraded around the campus by a few cheerleaders who were in charge of giving him the low down on the school and where to find classes, library, gym, etc... all that good stuff that he would need to know. In my very small minuscule mind, he was going to get lost! There was absolutely no way that he had locked all that information in the vault of his mind and if he actually had, he'd surely forget the combination! My Midgee and I left the school, we had almost 2 hours to kill before it was time to pick him up. So we killed time. Arrived back at the school 10 minutes before they were to let them go, grabbed our boy and headed out to eat food (3 very hungry folks). He LOVED the school! Coolest school since they came up with sliced bread! All summer long I have been trying to talk him into letting me home-school him, let me just say - he wasn't having that. My Midgee - he'd give his left ear to let me home-school him. I finally quit nagging him about it and just said fine, I am giving you 6 weeks,and if you are failing, you'll be home-schooled.
So school began on Monday, August 26th. The night before I made sure to talk to him about how his day will be and to be polite and mind other peoples space, be safe in the restroom.... blah blah blah. Then, I had his handsome father speak to him about how his day might be, to be safe, etc. My same lecture - but in a masculine voice O.o I know. Anywho, woke up the herd, got them dressed and fed, photoed and out the door.
Prayed for him on the way to school,
told him I love him
and let my little bird fly off on his own.... (hardest part of my day, hands down!)
and I said "Lord, he's yours" (maybe this was the hardest, anyway it was hard!)
It was a very long 8 hours!! (long!)
This is not elementary school anymore, this is the big league (for him). I watched the clock all day, wondering what he was doing at that moment, was anyone being not so nice to him, was he listening to his teachers and all that jazz. I could not wait to go pick him up. He got in the truck and exclaimed that "Today was the best day of his life!" He LOVED junior high. Thank God.
The more I sat and looked at his pictures I took of his 1st day of junior high, the more I realized that he was growing up, he was becoming a young man. He has a certain innocence about him and a beautiful bold confidence. He's a lot more fearless than I give him credit for. He did not get his confidence bone from me, I am so fearful (but I am working on it). I am watching my son flourish into all the things that God has set out before him, into the person God has created him to be and let me tell you - it's a beautiful thing.
His beautiful mother is so very proud of her young man and she loves him to pieces. But his beautiful mother is also happy that he belongs to a Glorious God and his heavenly Father is certainly going to look out for him.
Thank you Lord for a peace that surpasses ALL my understanding.