And now for a serious entry!

There have been a couple of things come up in the past couple of weeks that I thought I'd share.

 

Tonight I read the first month's worth of my entries to this journal.  Wow, what a difference.  Tomorrow, 11/18/06, makes 9 months since A&K moved in.  Their hearts & ours have changed so drastically.  It's amazing to see how quickly stability & order & boundaries can make a difference in a child's life.  We still have miles to go, but things have changed so much.  It's interesting to see how much of that old stuff still comes out from time to time, though.

 

A couple of weeks back, I was on the way to the grocery store.  Andrew kept calling me back into his bedroom (I go after the kids are in bed for the night).  I was getting frustrated b/c I really needed to go buy the groceries & he wouldn't let me go.  He finally admitted that he was afraid something would happen to me while I was gone.  He wanted to get up & go with me to make sure I was safe.  Had the next day not been a school day, I would've let him, but it wasn't a good time.  I assured him I would be careful & he finally let me leave.  I gave him a "kissing hand" before I left though---filling his palm with kisses & having him close his hand on them so they wouldn't "slip out".  I told him if he needed more kisses while I was gone, he could get a kiss from his hand.  That seemed to satisfy him.  :)

 

Tonight I had to run to the store again.  After getting everyone tucked in & heading for the doorway, he called me into his room.  When I reached the doorway, I heard him sniffling & he said "Will you drive safely?"  (Yes, I will.)  "What if you crash?"  (I'll be ok, honey.  I've been to Brookshire's a thousand times, so I know the way well.  I'll make sure & drive the safest way I know, ok?)  "But what if something happens to you?"  (Then God will take care of me.)  "But what if He doesn't save you?"  (Then I will go to Heaven.)  "But I don't want you to go to Heaven."  (Then you should pray for God to protect me while I drive.  Can you do that?)  "Yes...I'll do that.  I love you!  Be careful!"

 

Boy do I feel like a heel leaving the house after those conversations.

 

Another sweet one with Andrew---

A couple weeks ago when I got strep throat, I went in to tell the kids goodnight, but reminded them that I couldn't kiss them b/c I was sick.  Andrew really lives for our bedtime snuggles, so that disappointed him.  I told him he could give me a short, quick hug but that I'd have to sort of turn sideways & let him hug me (so I wouldn't be breathing on him).  As I started to stand up from his bed to leave, he grabbed onto me & said "Wait!  I'm going to pray for you to get better."  I sat back down & he put his hands on top of mine, closed his eyes & prayed silently for a minute.  When he was done, he turned me loose & said "Ok, it's done."  I thought it was sweet that he'd even offer to pray for me, but really cute that he wanted to put his hands on me while he was doing it.