It doesn't help that he's almost twenty-two.
I'm still sad that this son just moved out of our house,
possibly for the last time
But see that paper pinned to the bulletin board, on the wall behind him?
That's his acceptance to medical school.
And on days I've been cranky or out of sorts,
all I had to do was look at it, or think about it,
and I'd be suffused with joy and gratitude.
I told him all along,
You're under grace and favor.
So with grace and favor
we sent him off, and my husband prayed not only for his safety and protection,
and for ability to do the work,
but that he would seek the Lord continually.
Sorry, Dad, I don't think he can help you with your back.
He has an old friend from kindergarten who wants to be a doctor, too.
Maybe that's what put the thought in his mind.
I used to tell him, when he was a little boy,
that he'd make a good doctor.
He showed an affinity for people and an aptitude for school.
But did we push him to do this?
No, he pushed himself.
It's going to be a tough road ahead.
I say to him now,
I have no advice for you as far as study habits go.
I hope he has time for sleep, for exercise,
for moments of holy rest.
God encompasses time,
so with Him there is always enough.
I want my son to experience that.
Plenty of time.
It would be a miracle.
At Julia's baptism this last weekend.
What I'm going to miss is the dailiness of seeing him.
When I got up with the baby, Caleb and I often chatted in the kitchen
while he ate breakfast.
No more early-morning chats.
No more gone-in-a-day pies.
No more Malachi welcoming him home, both of them smiling hugely.
Writing this makes me sigh,
and I have to remember how exciting all of it is.
I am brimming with gratitude for each of our kids.
Part of the gratitude is that they grow up.
They grow up!
And then they have to go away,
and I'm going to have to get used to that.
A Blessing
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the works of their hands.
They will not toil in vain
or bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
they and their descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.
Isaiah 65:22-24
DJ left for Duke yesterday. I was miserable and exhausted all day. It took until evening for me to figure out why I couldn't get any unpacking done. I missed him. Do you know, once he told me, "My favorite part of the day is driving home and wondering what you made for supper." He always ate whatever I made, and said he liked it. He also knew enough about the musculo-skeletal system to give me really therapeutic massages when my back was out. And, surprisingly since he is a boy, he talked more than all the other kids combined. And played saxophone, and played piano. And sang. It is so very different without him around. Everything is different anyway, and I wish something would not change. I guess God doesn't.
ReplyDeleteOh Ruthie, he's your noisemaker. No wonder his absence leaves too much silence in the house. I'm sad for you, but so happy too. When Caleb drove off in his '93 Camry, I thought of David in his old Corolla (but is it that old? I doubt it) and smiled. I will be thinking of you on the 9th, that's Caleb's white coat ceremony as well.
ReplyDeleteI think the Corolla is a 2000, so while it is very old, it is not quite that old. Wow! Congrats to Caleb for keeping a '93 out on the road!
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