School Boys

I just got pictures of a little guy (11 years old) now at his new home having come from the same orphange in Ukraine as our boys. It brought back memories of "Look Ma!" and bloody elbows as our two crashed into trees and each other on the driveway 15 months ago, when they first tried bike riding.

An old photo I have of James shows a small, pale boy, definitely not the one who, in those short months has shot up to almost my height. He has grown in many ways, and showing himself to be even-tempered and strong. He is well-liked at school and yesterday ran his first track meet to the cheers of the school.

The other moms and I shivered and huddled under a blanket on the concrete bleachers and yelled for him. Then it was big brother, Rob's turn. He and his good buddies ran in four relays and won bigtime.

We are very fortunate to have our children in this fine Christian school and we all know it. Yesterday I met one of the boys and his dad in Wal-Mart in the sporting good aisle. We just had to say Thank you God for these dear sons, who have a wonderful bond with each other. We think there is a special blessing of some kind upon them.

At the same time as becoming more disciplined and structured, our school continues to have that small school warmth and flexibility that we love so much: being able to come and go, to talk to teachers whenever you want, to know everyone and to care for and pray for each other's families and children, to socialize and drive to games together is something we do not take for granted.