Growing up, I learned to golf and fish and camp from a really early age… and I loved every second of it!  I can vividly remember being super frustrated when my daddy wouldn’t let me bait my own hook with a nightcrawler.  But I was also a dancer, and loved Barbies and coloring and dressing up.  I took pride in being able to spend the day playing in the dirt, and then getting gussied up that same evening.  So when God gave me two boys, I thought “No biggie… I can totally do this!”

Fast forward to today…

If you know my boys in real life, you can attest to the fact that they are ALL BOY.  When girls walk, my boys zoom.  When girls sit quietly and color, my boys make guns out of the crayons.  When girls gingerly hug their friends, my boys scoop them up in a breath-taking bear hug and plop them back on the ground bewildered.

I know, I know… they’re boys.  And they’re two and four years old.  But as the days go by, I feel more and more like I just can’t relate to them.

A couple days ago, I read the introduction and first chapter of a book called “Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys” by Stephen James and David Thomas.  Immediately, it was like a weight was lifted from my shoulders.  It helped me begin to realize that I’ve spent so much time trying to get them to “sit still, play quietly, don’t jump off of that, quit poking your brother” that I’m missing out on the enjoyment of watching my boys… well… be boys.  I understand that their behavior is totally normal – but it’s just so foreign to me.

I’m pretty sure God’s getting a huge kick out of all this.  He seems to have quite a sense of humor when it comes to the plans I think I’ve laid out for myself.  See, I always assumed (yes, I know what happens when one assumes) that two years after I said “I do” we’d have a son, and two years after that, a daughter.  I’d have my ideal American family, and enjoy the perfect balance of football games and tutus.

I couldn’t have been more wrong if I tried!

~~~insert an hour or two away from the computer that included a trip to the grocery store, dinner, and settling my boys down with a movie… all the while a song was stuck in my head.  When I finally started singing it out loud and realized what it was, I had to chuckle a bit~~~

Over and over in my head today, I’ve heard the song “Today is the Day” by Lincoln Brewster:

I’m casting my cares aside
I’m leaving my past behind
I’m setting my heart and mind on you
Jesus

Today is the day you have made
I will rejoice and be glad in it
Today is the day you have made
I will rejoice and be glad in it

I won’t worry about tomorrow
I’m trusting in what you say
Today is the day

It’s almost like the chorus just had to be repeated… kinda like a mantra.  Today is the day You have made, Lord… and I will rejoice and be glad in it, even when I don’t wanna.  Even when I feel like I don’t measure up.  Even when there’s a mountain of laundry, an empty fridge, and two little boys with boogers crusted on their faces chasing each other with light sabers and making me crazy.  I will rejoice.  My life (and the lives of my monkeys) is in Your capable and loving hands, and I will trust in what You say.  I will do my best to honor Your creation by allowing my boys the freedom to be rough-and-tumble, to get dirty, and even to fail if it means they’ll learn one of life’s important lessons.  And I will do it all with my eyes focused firmly on You… after all, they’re really yours.  You’re just letting me borrow them.  Thanks for that!

Really random post… sorry about that (but not really, cuz this is my planet :)).