What I am learning from Son#2

When we met S, he was this gangly little boy in J's 5th grade class who needed a mom and dad and we prayed about it and it seemed that we were to move forward and have him become a member of our family. We felt it was the right thing and so we moved forward. Little did we know what God would use this boy for over the last 6 years and a lot of it would be painful but stretching. This one was the one God used to MOVE US OUT of our comfort zone and MADE us depend on the Lord more than we EVER had. Is that a bad thing? Nope!  It hurt at the time but hindsight is 20/20 and so this is what I have seen God do in my life through Son#2.

1. God MADE me depend on HIM and no one else. Because of S's reactions to his circumstances, I was put in a position at times where the professionals and the friends and family just didn't have any answers to what was going on with him and so I was FORCED to depend on the Lord. The verse that comes to mind in this area is one of my favorites.

Isaiah 30:20-21

 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food
    and suffering for drink,
he will still be with you to teach you.
    You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
²¹ Your own ears will hear him.
    Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
    whether to the right or to the left.

He stayed true to his word. God taught me to suffer the right way(sometimes I goofed big time but you get the point)and depend on Him. 

2.   S knows how to think through things. Yes, sometimes it has been for evil and not for good(haha) but he really can think through things and write out all the good and bad of every decision. When he is focused, he can tell me the pros and cons of his decisions. I need to do more of that.

3. S taught me about love. I have had to learn to love someone in my home who isn't always "lovely" to be around. S has some issues and though some are not his own doing, some are. I have seen that true LOVE comes when you can love someone through the good, the bad and ugly. I have learned that when someone is hurting, you don't abandon them, you love them through it. AND, we never know what a person truly has been through, so we love anyway....I have learned that true love is sometimes TOUGH love.  I have learned to truly love someone through S. 

4. S really loves to learn. I have always loved to learn but he REALLY loves to learn. From learning to cook a new recipe to the latest and greatest in electronics, he wants to learn. He told me once that "even at my age" I could learn more and more!! He inspires me to keep learning.

5. Finally, S has taught me that most life problems stem from past trauma and that I need to have more empathy. I have learned that though I care about people, I have lots to learn about being empathetic. To empathized doesn't excuse, it understands. I have come to understand that our brains and our pasts so influence who we are right now.  I am learning to understand. 

  

I guess that all in all as I read through this post, LOVE is the theme of what S has taught me. I am amazed as I wrote, how much God has been teaching me about loving a person....sometimes when you can't stand their behavior, sometimes when they are very sick, sometimes when they are uncooperative, sometimes when they are just light and fun and smart! What more do I need from this precious young man than a lesson on LOVE....FAMILY LOVE....TRUE LOVE. 

 ^" Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud  or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance". I Corinthians 13:4-7 


I have not arrived here yet, but this is what God is teaching me through this son of mine. Thank you S for being the vehicle in which God is refining me. I know HE is refining and healing you! I have faith that He will one day.....with these words...

"...But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD..." Jeremiah 30:17