Maturing

 On Easter Sunday, we reached a milestone I wasn’t ever sure we would hit.  (a) sang up front with the kids’ choir at church and did exactly what he was supposed to do.  There was no jumping, flopping, sleeve chewing, nose picking, or pouting.  He actually stood on stage like a respectable human AND sang out to all three songs they had been practicing.  I was so relieved I nearly cried.  This might not seem like such a big deal, but you have to know this kid’s track record.  The very first Christmas we were in Illinois, he flopped off the front step reenacting a scene as if he had been shot and then laid on the floor kicking his foot in the air.  Other times he has swung around playing bumper cars with the other kids, made goofy faces, pulled at his eyes, wadded up and chewed on his sleeve, or stood up front pouting.  But up until this point he has never actually done what he was supposed to do. 

This guy even got himself all dressed and ready by himself for Easter Sunday morning (complete with his own choice of accessories- which he thankfully DIDN'T wear on stage)

 

Over the last few days, we have praised him several times at home for doing the right thing and doing a great job, and one of those times his response hit me in a way that made me realize the truth of the situation.  He said “Yeah, Death was Arrested was hard to learn, I had to practice that one a LOT!” He sounded so grown up- and I realized that was it.  He is growing up and maturing.  The little guy who flopped off the stage like he was shot in an old western wasn’t quite 3 yet.  He was pretty immature to be up there, let alone sing along.  The boy who chewed on his shirt was trying to somewhat comply, but he didn’t want to put in the effort to learn the words to the songs.  But THIS guy- he has finally matured enough to find the combination of acting correctly AND being interested enough to learn the songs and join in the singing like the older kids.  It just took some maturing.

 

I think about other things that just take some maturing- some of my favorite trees that needed a few years before their spring blossoms were the most glorious or other plants that needed some time before they could produce their best fruits.  And I think of my own heart and life.  I still have SO much to learn, but as I look back, I can see places and situations that I would have handled differently, words I might not have said, feelings I might not have wasted time on if I were to face the same situation now because God’s word and life experience are hopefully maturing me. 

 

We have joked that we will be watching baby #3 graduate high school along with people our own age who are there to watch their grandkids graduate, but as I think about who we were 10 years ago or more, I’m so thankful we waited several years to become parents.  While I see absolutely nothing wrong with becoming parents much sooner than we did- In my life, I see how maturity has made me a different mom today than I would have been when I first married at 22- and I’m ok with her.  This mom worries far less than she would have, takes things much more in stride than she would have done, has more patience, sees less need for perfection, relishes little moments, and prays for different things.  And those things came with maturity of life experience and maturity in my faith. 

 

I still have SO much growing to do, and SO many more ways to mature, but as I watch it happen in my little boys, I am reminded that God isn’t done with any of us yet.  As (a) handles things better each day, I pray that I will mature as his mama each day too, so that I can guide him and lead him, and set an example for him to continue maturing too. 

“until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13