Young Love

With a raspy, Joey-style, “How you doin’?” Jack greeted Turner. She batted her incredibly long, beautiful lashes. He drooled in her direction. She drooled back. And then, she promptly clocked him in the head. (Mark, does Sarah know you are teaching Turner these moves to ward off the advances of male suitors? Are you and Jamie leading a class for your girls?) So, sporting their Auburn finest (just before a CWE marriage proposal between two past camp counselors) I ask…was another love interest sparked?


Yes, as you can tell…they were much more interested in the band and other noises than one another. But only time will tell….

After the pep rally and proposal Porter told us that she asked her friend Rusty to marry her, then recanted and said he asked HER but after he had asked two other girls. She seemed alright being his third choice…I wonder how long that attitude will last?!

All this romancin’ reminded me of something much more important regarding my children…

My mom always encouraged me to pursue excellence, in school, in work…in everything, and I have spent much of my life measuring my success by grades and workplace accolades. With my parents’ encouragement and innate drive, I have indeed enjoyed success, but this pursuit of excellence sometimes leaves me frustrated as a parent. I want excellent life outcomes for my children…today and in the future, academically, professionally and in relationships. However, I’m quite sure God laughs when I try to set forth plans and one of my three children stomps all over them, be it inadvertently or a moment of defiance. So, I recognize…that I’m not getting an “A+” as a Mommy. But how do I know if what I’m doing is right? There is no mid-year review....

Luckily I’ve had a couple of wise women share encouragement. One woman reminded me of God’s grace. Just as God offers his grace to me when I sin, He offers the same when I don’t perform at an A+ Mommy level, and if I have given my children to Him, he’ll cover a lot of my “slack.” I’ve also learned to apologize to my girls which I hope demonstrates how we should seek God’s grace and forgiveness. (Check out THAT positive spin on my daily parenting mistakes!) Another woman (my sister’s mother-in-law, actually) encouraged me to pray for my children and to specifically pray for their future spouses. She demonstrated such peace as Sarah and Ryan got married because she knew she had prayed over Sarah’s life since Ryan was a little kid. How cool?!

So, while I don’t know if it will be a brown eyed, blue-eyed or green-eyed beauty who steals my little boy’s heart or a broad, short, skinny or tall boy who woos my girls, I pledge to pray for them today. Meanwhile, it sure is fun to speculate on what the little ones are thinking and enjoying who they are at this very minute.