I see boyhood leaving...

Oh my, say it aint so!  I've been realizing this past year or two that my boy is leaving boyhood.  He is a ball of many emotions.  Boys are "what you see is what you get" but teenagers are a different story.  I'm realizing lately that I need to work a little harder now to find out what is really going on in Jett's heart now that he is 10 and the his awareness of the world is expanding...along with his hormones.

I had a day that needed some venting so I asked my family if we could take a walk after dinner around the block... I was imagining a 20 minute outing would make me feel better and back on track.  The girls immediately took off on scooters and Josh was close behind.  Jett was immediately grumpy because he couldn't find his helmet so he could longboard...therefore, he had to ditch the wheels for our walk.   Half way around the block Josh and the girls were way ahead which left me to try and scratch the surface with Jett and see what was up.  It didn't take long until he started gushing to me his heart...his real heart...not the surface stuff of not being on his longboard.  We walked together around the block and back around again...got home and he asked if we could go again.  What???  Okay and THANK YOU GOD ran through my brain.  Some incredibly good stuff was shared and I didn't want it to end but I also wanted to play it cool so he would feel comfortable coming to me again about such big 5th grade issues.

I've always known there's magic in a good walk.  I love walking with friends because you can go to places in the conversation that you usually don't in passing, over the phone or at the gym.  I never thought my sweet boy would be a part of that same magic tonight.  I know now.  God gave me the most amazing tool to connect with my son tonight...a walk in the brisk dusk of the day.  A 20 minute revive turned into an hour of pure soul connection with my son.  

When we remove the distractions and discouragments of our daily life and let love lead, God will bless us with unexpected vulnerability and connections to those around us.  An hour later when I put Jett to bed...he continued to tell me how nervous he was to share and how he was about to burst if hadn't done it.  He told me he felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.  And finally, he said, "I love you so much momma, thank you for listening.  Can I keep talking to you about this when I need to?"   Oh my, oh my, oh my...God showed me tonight that I don't need to hold on to Jett with a death grip trying to fight for him to stay young.  I can relax my white knuckles, open my fingers and let Jett slowly take a few steps towards manhood.  As long as I release with love, he'll come back into my arms and tell me he loves me instead of running in the other direction.  

***My encouragement...walk with your kids...maybe only 5 mintues but give them your complete attention and be amazed at the magic that will ensue.