Saturday, February 16, 2008

Boy Noise and Bump Day


Today my son has officially been a missionary for 6 months! Woo hoo! You missionary moms, both former and current, know that I wouldn’t want him to be anywhere else in the world but where he is, and doing what he is doing. However, I have my moments of really missing him, as any mom would. We have made it to the ¼ mark – today he will commemorate that by participating in the traditional 6th Month Tie Burning Ceremony. I will commemorate it by writing here.
To my young mom friends – not to be completely clichĂ©, BUT the time flies faster than you will ever know. Soon your little sons and daughters will be on their way to the MTC, or to college, or to get married.
It seems like last week I was shopping for his little teeny white church shirts and tiny little baby boy ties.
Wasn’t it just a few days ago that Brian was driving me crazy running around the house making messes in every room or making his sister scream in frustration (oh wait - he did that up until he left 6 months ago, by the way)? I must confess that I miss the boy noise, boy smell and boy mess.

Now the boy noise is replaced with the immeasurable joy of receiving the Monday morning Emails full of inspiration, lessons learned, and stories of touching lives. My blue-eyed energetic son is now spending his time pedaling across “Carolina”, learning Espanol and riding through near-ghettos searching for the pure in heart. He is becoming a man, day by day, frustration by frustration, and blessing by blessing. It’s Parental Pay-off Time, worth every bit of frustration, every argument about Boy Scouts, every prayer, every Family Home Evening lesson, every Sacrament meeting battle, and every tear that came before it.
The tears now are tears of Gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the blessing of watching this boy transform into a man of God.




I guess I just had to wait a little while….

9 comments:

  1. Deon...I'm not even the mom here, and I think that was fsat! Could it really already be 6 months??? Congrats for making it 1/4 of the way as a missionary mom - you are doing great!!

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  2. Wow, 6 months already!

    I got a bit teary eyed reading your post today. It was going timing for me because I was getting a little frustrated with the "boy noise" and "boy mess" that was happening this morning at our house. It reminded me to chill out and enjoy (of course the boys are both napping right now, LOL. Thanks for the post!

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  3. Hi! It's Jodee, a long lost ward member. Ronnie and I lived in Owings Mills in 01-02 ish. I think Bishop Tait knew Ronnie's dad, Ronald Chapman, back in MD too. Anyway, I have been keeping up with Bishop Taits blog but am so happy to find yours too. Thanks for the post, I too was having one of those oh so frequent naughty boy days and your post was a good reminder that I will probably miss it some day! Thanks!

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  4. Thanks for the comments, girls. Jodee, I do remember you two and am happy to be connected with you again! Don't get me wrong - I DO enjoy having a cleaner house, and sometimes a bit quieter. Just hug those babies and keep 'em close! They are gone too quickly.

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  5. The baby picture of Bryan sure brought back memories. I'd forgotten what he looked like as a baby. What a cutie!

    Congratulations - you've got to be so proud of him!

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  6. Hi Deon! Glad I found your blog! Congrats on your missionary!

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  7. Thanks Amy - oh wonder-babysitter of the past! Amanda, glad you found it! I enjoy checking up on you as well!

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  8. I have so many mixed feelings looking at this post. When we lived in the Hampstead ward more than 8 years ago Brian was younger than Spencer is now, and yet it just doesn't seem all that long ago. What a wonderful young man Brian has grown up to be...no surprise coming from wonderful parents like you and Richard. We hope to have a similar post on our blog in six more years.

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  9. I'm trying to imagine Brian digging through his mountain of ties trying to find the perfect one to celebrate such an event.

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A little note from you? Thanks!