So, today, I want to talk about Sam. He turned 17. I can hardly believe it. I know that I say that with each birthday. But it is true. I had a hard time when he turned 16, but at 16 I am excited for them because they get to drive. Sixteen is such a "magical" age. But 17? Wow - that just seems so much older then 17. Probably because he is now only a year from being an adult. It is kind of strange. Sam seems to have matured and grown up overnight. I look back at pictures just 2 years ago and I can't do anything but giggle. He has changed so much!
Sam's birthday has always seemed to slide by without a whole lot of hipla. It always makes me sad. He is such a great kid and never complains, never begs for anything, never cries about what he gets. We have to literally beg him to give us an idea of something he would really like. We haven't done a party (really.... for any of the kids) for a very long time. By the time the kids reach teenage years, it is just something I have not put much effort into. I love having kids come over, but hate them feeling like they have to bring a gift. So I hate planning a "birthday" party. And with no party... the celebration isn't all that great.
We tried to plan a big paint ball party for his 16th birthday, I even bought 10 tickets for the paintball fields... but we were never able to organize all the kids to be able to come. It ended up just 2 kids and Sam going. They had a ball, but it was kind of disappointing.
This year we had nothing planned. Sam didn't want a party and he didn't want us to get him any gifts. He just wanted it to go by as if it were another day. That made my heart ache. I felt like I had been the worst mom ever. My son didn't feel special enough for a day to be celebrated in his honor. It broke my heart.
Sam has had many, many disappointments in his life. It seems like whenever things are against a kid, it is always Sam who gets the tough end. He has faced failure, rejection, unjustness, over and over. I know most kids will face these things at some point in their childhood or teenage years. It is all normal and very healthy. But, honestly, his difficulties and disappointments are more then the normal kid (or at least more then all of our other kids). Most of those tough moments are moments that pierce my heart. I think I hate that part of parenting almost more then anything. Holding my child til they have cried so much that no more tears come.... or worse.... when they get older.... knowing the pain and not being able to hold them; only watch.
God promises are real. I can look back at many of those moments and see how God has used them to mold Sam. Sam has a depth of character that truly has roots. Those roots were made in the midst of trials. He had much that needed changed about who he was and God has taken circumstances to make Sam stronger. I rejoice in that!
The week before Sam's birthday, he asked me if a group of kids could come hang out on Saturday. They were a group of kids that Sam really hadn't talked much about. Sam rarely asks for friends to come over. So I was thrilled; and even more thrilled that it was the weekend before his birthday! At least 10 kids came out and Sam had a blast. It was fun to watch them. Despite the chilly evening, they ran hard outside. We ended the evening with a huge fire and a movie. The only problem in the whole night was that I made a fool out of myself.
I had just built a huge fire... I mean HUGE! Mark wasn't here and the whole time I kept wishing he was. He is the fire expert; not me! I am usually very nervous about big fires. I guarded it for a good 1/2 hour, pushing sticks into the fire so that the fire didn't spread anywhere. After it finally settled down and I could begin walking around, it had become quite dark. There was a layer of smoke drifting throughout our backyard. I figured it was from the fire I had built. Well... I walked to the swing to talk to some of the kids and looked deep into our woods. Deep in, there was a small orange glow. The last time I saw a orange glow in our woods, it was a smoldering tree stump that Mark was burning that had actually flamed into a fire. Mark went flying back into the woods that night and had to put it out. I asked the kids what it was, then I asked Sam if he had started a fire when they were playing in the woods. He said he had not. The small orange glow seemed to be getting a little bigger. I couldn't figure it out. I was too chicken to go look. There is an old, creepy house that we know some "cultic" activity has gone on. I started wondering if someone had been in the old house and started a fire. As I watched, the glow got bigger. I got very concerned about it and called Mark. Sam wanted to go check it out, but all I could think of is bad things (bad people in the woods, kids getting lost in the woods with a fire.. you know... silly stuff). Mark told me to call our neighbor. I called our neighbor who immediately was going to come down for me. When I hung up the phone, the glow was looking different. This time, it didn't look so much like a glow, but more defined. Sam and the others started telling me it was the moon and that it was too high in the sky to be a fire (it was not so high earlier!). I told them they were crazy. I had even told them all that if there was a fire, they would have to get ready to hop in cars and leave. So I watched the orange glow and... sure enough.. it was higher.. and sure enough... it was round now... and yes... it was the moon!!! I called my neighbor back and caught him before he came down. The rest of the night, I was the object of jokes. Yep.. that was very humiliating! But hey... the moon was definitely orange and HUGE that night. Crazy!!!
Anyway - his party was fun. On Monday, when he came home from school.. he recieved the very best present he could have asked for. In the mail, was his acceptance into the Summer Leadership Seminar for the Naval Academy! His friend was accepted 2 weeks prior. Sam had been checking the mail every day since. They applied on the same day. His hopes of having been accepted had been dwindling. But Monday, on his birthday, the letter came in the mail! How cool is that????
After all the rejections and disppointments in his life, he is now enjoying some joyful moments. He will be attending Summer Leadership for West Point June 4-10 and then Summer Leadership for Naval Academy June 11-16. Unfortunately, we booked his flights to West Point. He will have to fly home then turn around and fly the next day to Annapolis. Had we known, we would have had him fly from West point to Naval Academy and given him a night of rest in a hotel room.
To top it all off, this weekend, he will be asking the parents of a young lady for permission to begin dating her. I think that, all in all, he had a pretty good birthday.
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