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Blessings & Peace,
Community UMC Women’s Hub
My Son, My Son
Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord. -Psalm 127:3
“My son, my son, my moon and the stars.” When we were blessed with our son Chris, I would sing that rhyme to him, (I have to admit that even now I sing it to him). He was absolutely the cutest, cuddliest baby ever! And he was absolutely the most tiresome, active, loud, mischievous toddler ever!
You know those days, when you seriously don’t know how you survived? That was our day every day. When I relate incidents in our ‘life with Chris’, people think I’m exaggerating. If anything, it doesn’t come close to the reality of living with that little ball of energy and temper tantrums. To this day, he declares he was the perfect child.
My response: “No, NO, NO, NOOOOO!”
Getting out of the house was a massive effort with four children. Corralling all four, getting them dressed, dealing with who won’t wear whatever, who is lolly gagging around, who can’t find their shoes, who’s crying and then getting them out the door and into the car.
Once we were in church, the praying and ‘fun’ began. The church we had been going had no nursery and no “Crying Room”. That meant our four dear children had to stay with us. I packed anything and everything to keep them quiet and settled. There were “quiet toys” for four children, snacks for four children, coloring books & crayons for four children. It looked like we were moving into the church.The girls were no angels but they usually were kept busy with all the activities and food we had brought along. Not my toddler Chris. He’d be under the pew. He’d be on top of the pew. He’d be on top of me. He’d be on top of Fred. He’d be lying on the floor. He’d be trying to escape down the aisle. Then, his loud crying and tantrums would start. We were “That family” with “That kid” in the church. I don’t know about anyone else’s church experiences with children, but I’d be left exasperated, exhausted and exceptionally irritated with trying to contain my son Chris in church. I’d be praying to God for enough patience and strength to get through the service and please make it a short one.
That’s when God’s angels came to my rescue. There always seemed to be someone in the pew behind us that would start to amuse Chris and calm him down. One time a man engaged Chris by having a puppet show using his hands and his handkerchief. Another time, an elderly lady showed him the things in her purse pulling them out one by one like a magic show. My thanks never seemed to be enough for their kindness.
What a blessing these unknown angels were. I was always so grateful for their understanding, kindness and for not being judged. They did not however accept my generous offer to adopt him (just kidding! Well, maybe not in the moment).
Epilogue: Chris and I both managed to get through his younger years. He graduated high school at the top of his class. He earned a scholarship to college. Joined the Marines and became a Marine Captain. He’s now a father to two amazing daughters. Amen!!
