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What a Joy - Raising Boys


My first child was a girl.  My sweet baby Lyshie!  She is now almost 12 years old and is not just my child, she's my friend.  When Allysha was almost 7, we had our son, Jon.  When I found out he was a boy from the ultrasound, my heart ached.  I almost cried and conveyed my disappointment to my husband.  You see, I've never been an energetic person.  What would a woman who had a daughter for almost 7 years do with a boy?  Surely, we would both be a disappointment to each other.

My husband in his wisdom told me to look at this as something new we could share together.  You see, I had lived quite a godless life before and had experienced many things before I had even met my wonderful Matt.  He had a point...I needed to give myself up to this idea.  

Oh how God loves and moves in our lives!

By the time my son was born, I was so in love with him.  Today my Jon is 5 years old.  What a true joy he has been and still is for this fickle mama.  If you're a personal friend of mine, I'm sorry but I cannot and will not apologize for talking so much about my son.  

 The below picture is Jon helping daddy dig a trench.  Not even 2 years old yet.

 Brothers, what can I say? 

What a world that has opened up to me simply because I have a boy.  Oh how much my Jon has taught me about himself, myself and even my husband.  As my sweet friend Jamie taught me even more so lately; inside each woman is a little girl and inside each man is a little boy.  Just as my son needs to hear "Great job!" and "Atta boy!", so does my hubby.  

In the below picture, we had gone outside for a spell.  He had finished riding his bike a few times and wanted to sit just for a bit with his mama.  "Mom, take a picture of us together!" I could not refuse.  


What a blessing to see my son being caring to his siblings while a helper and protector.  How neat to see him open my door to the car or carry my purse for me.   Such determination in his eyes.  Such a love for God in his little heart.  His little self is yearning for justice for all men, women and children.  Jumping in to help with whatever hard, "manly" tasks we have here at home.  What a neat little man!

God has blessed me abundantly with 1 girl and 2 boys.  What a blessing each is to my life.  This next week my blog posts will more than likely be about raising boys.  Are we perfect, no way!  Is my boy afraid of bugs - at the moment yes.  But that's something we'll work through.  My main goal is to raise a boy who will lead with God at his center; a provider for his family.  What are your goals for your son/sons?  What steps do you need to take to get there?  Last but not least, pray!  Pray for their leadership, for their love for the Lord, for their future spouse, for their vocation, etc... 

Pray...

Comments

Jamie said…
Oh how sweet! This post made me "mist up".

Yes, I love my little man, as well. YOu are so right that they bring a certain kind of joy to a mother's heart!

My personal goal is for my son to feel like he is our "man of the house" when Daddy is gone off on a work trip. Not that he is "the boss", but that he has to do all the "guy stuff" that normally Daddy would do.

So far, I have basically focused on speaking this over him (thanks for that bit of advice, by the way!), and also by praising his natural inclination to be protective, kind, and helpful.

And, yes, much, much prayer for this little guy !!

We enjoy each other so very much. Nothing like a son! <3

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