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Tomorrow begins our 18 year-old son's last week in High School...and things will never be the same for him, or us again. I just can't believe it.
Not to brag, but Kyle is such a smart little (6'2") guy, already carving his niche whereever he goes. In the Fall, he will be going to Henderson State University on a full scholarship that he earned. Things are really gearing up and he senses that it all is achangin'.
I watch his mother and can see that she is ever so affected by the whole thing. She doesn't know just how to deal with it, bless her heart. But, I have two grown daughters from my first marriage and thus have a little bit of experience with the "empty nest" syndrone. Alls I can do is to be there for her when the pangs of loneliness hit.
We toured the school a few weeks ago and Kyle mentioned, after touring the cafeteria, "Mom, I see there is everything I could want here to keep me healthy, but your brownies are the best." Virginia just teared up big time. Can you imagine???
We've been working toward this goal for a long long time. Countless prayers from us and his grandparents have insulated him along the way, I am most sure. Why, there were times when he was three years old and younger where he was in the hospital every other week end for first one thing and another. Thank God he has outgrown most of his childhood ailment except for his asthma. Even it is less frequent than ever. We have a lot for which to be thankful, you know.
You might wonder, "Why did John place in the title of this little piece 'Phase One?'" Well, in just two short years, our baby Ashlea will be leaving as well. God is gracious to give us two years to prepare for that one donchaknow.
So, soon, our modest home we call The Hilltop will be a bit less crowded and a lot more lonesome for a time. But we can see a young man in the making, being molded by the hand of his Lord. Life must go on and we will embrace it with all we have, through tears of joy, thankfulness and loneliness, we'll celebrate Kyle's coming of age.
What a blessing this young man has been to us. It is our prayer that he will find himself always in the middle of God's will whereever he goes an whatever he does. I know all parents say things like this, but we believe that Kyle will really make a difference someday in the field of virology or genetics.
Though we may be lonesome for a season, we will sit back and watch and God Himself expands Kyle's territories and matures him into the young man he was intended to be.
The empty nest. It's not so bad. As I contemplate retirement, I will observe from the sidelines and watch and Kyle (and soon after, Ashlea) takes his rightful place in this society of ours.
And Virginia and I will not let a day go by that we do not praise God, from whom all blessing flow. "To every thing there is a season" it says in Ecclesiastes, chapter 3. It may be hard to accept in the natural thought processes, but in faith, we KNOW that.
"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable and receives the impossible." Corrie Ten Boone (1892-1983)
What will Kyles's destiny be? Oh, we don't know. But God is in control and it will be our reward to watch, as we have in years past, to see just how the Creator makes this once so sickly little boy, into the young man He wants him to be.
We celebrate, with mild heart rendings fromt he empty nest as our son casts his net into life's waters so very soon. <><
John and Virginia
Not to brag, but Kyle is such a smart little (6'2") guy, already carving his niche whereever he goes. In the Fall, he will be going to Henderson State University on a full scholarship that he earned. Things are really gearing up and he senses that it all is achangin'.
I watch his mother and can see that she is ever so affected by the whole thing. She doesn't know just how to deal with it, bless her heart. But, I have two grown daughters from my first marriage and thus have a little bit of experience with the "empty nest" syndrone. Alls I can do is to be there for her when the pangs of loneliness hit.
We toured the school a few weeks ago and Kyle mentioned, after touring the cafeteria, "Mom, I see there is everything I could want here to keep me healthy, but your brownies are the best." Virginia just teared up big time. Can you imagine???
We've been working toward this goal for a long long time. Countless prayers from us and his grandparents have insulated him along the way, I am most sure. Why, there were times when he was three years old and younger where he was in the hospital every other week end for first one thing and another. Thank God he has outgrown most of his childhood ailment except for his asthma. Even it is less frequent than ever. We have a lot for which to be thankful, you know.
You might wonder, "Why did John place in the title of this little piece 'Phase One?'" Well, in just two short years, our baby Ashlea will be leaving as well. God is gracious to give us two years to prepare for that one donchaknow.
So, soon, our modest home we call The Hilltop will be a bit less crowded and a lot more lonesome for a time. But we can see a young man in the making, being molded by the hand of his Lord. Life must go on and we will embrace it with all we have, through tears of joy, thankfulness and loneliness, we'll celebrate Kyle's coming of age.
What a blessing this young man has been to us. It is our prayer that he will find himself always in the middle of God's will whereever he goes an whatever he does. I know all parents say things like this, but we believe that Kyle will really make a difference someday in the field of virology or genetics.
Though we may be lonesome for a season, we will sit back and watch and God Himself expands Kyle's territories and matures him into the young man he was intended to be.
The empty nest. It's not so bad. As I contemplate retirement, I will observe from the sidelines and watch and Kyle (and soon after, Ashlea) takes his rightful place in this society of ours.
And Virginia and I will not let a day go by that we do not praise God, from whom all blessing flow. "To every thing there is a season" it says in Ecclesiastes, chapter 3. It may be hard to accept in the natural thought processes, but in faith, we KNOW that.
"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable and receives the impossible." Corrie Ten Boone (1892-1983)
What will Kyles's destiny be? Oh, we don't know. But God is in control and it will be our reward to watch, as we have in years past, to see just how the Creator makes this once so sickly little boy, into the young man He wants him to be.
We celebrate, with mild heart rendings fromt he empty nest as our son casts his net into life's waters so very soon. <><
John and Virginia
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