My sweet Kason

It is hard to believe that my sweet baby boy will be 8 years old this Spring. He is growing up so fast! I am starting to realize how little time we have left with him before he is too cool to hang out with his parents and too busy with friends and activities to spend much time at home. It makes me so sad! I just pray that we can teach him what he will need to make it out there as a teenager, young adult and adult. That is a scary thought!!! I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves him and who will pick up the pieces where we, as his earthly parents, fail. I pray for Kason every day. For the choices he makes, for his friends, his teachers, caregivers, and for the world he will live in when he is grown.

I have been thinking about Kason and how fast he is growing for a few weeks now. It may have started when he brought home his 2nd grade school picture, which I have posted below. I looked at it and tears came to my eyes. Who is this handsome boy who looks a little like my son and a little like my husband?!? :) He looked soooo big!!! I almost couldn't believe it was him!

I have also been realizing more clearly lately what a tender heart Kason has. I always knew it, but it has been made even more clear to me lately. Kason is so much like my dad. He is very sensitive and cares so much about other people, and how they feel. A couple of weeks ago, we were putting the kids to bed a little later than normal after a hectic evening of football practice, homework, dinner, baths and bedtime stories. I was about at my limit of what I could handle and to be honest, couldn't wait for the kids to go to bed so I could have just a little bit of down time. I put Katie down but she was not happy about it. I did what I could to settle her down, but she just stood in her bed crying. I knew she was exhausted and would not cry for long, so I left her in her room crying while I went to get Kason settled. I walked back to our room to get him and he said to me, "Mom, don't you hear Katie?" I said, yes, I hear her but she will be fine and will stop crying any minute. Kason said to me, "But Mom, think how you would feel if you were her." The way he looked at me melted my heart. He was so concerned about his sister. He has such a compassionate heart and I am so very proud of him. My job as a parent is to cultivate that tender heart that God gave him and make sure it doesn't get squashed by the harshness of this world.

Kason has another quality that I admire: Determination. We saw this quality first-hand this weekend at Gary Don's cousin's son, Landon's, birthday party. Landon turned 8 and had a roller skating party that we all went to. When we got there, Kason saw Landon and other boys his age speeding around the skate rink as fast as they could go. Kason has never skated before, but couldn't wait to be a part of the action. He and GD went to get his skates and put them on. Of course, Kason could hardly stand up in them! It took 2 of us to hold him up just to get him to the rink. His little feet were rolling everywhere and his body could not catch up! He went around that rink hugging the wall and falling about every 4 feet. He would get up and just watch the other boys speeding by. My heart hurt for him!! I wanted to just hold him in my arms and tell him he didn't have to do it anymore. His falls were so hard, they hurt me!! I tried to give him tips on how to skate, but there wasn't alot I could do except just watch him fall over and over and over. I could tell he wanted to cry a few times but he didn't want to cry in front of the other boys. Thankfully, the PA announcer announced that it was time to stop skating and eat cake. So Kason took off his skates and ate cake. This picture was taken during that time. Can't you just see the determination on his face!?!?!? I did not realize it until I looked at this picture later. I love it!!

After cake, I told Kason he didn't have to skate anymore if he didn't want to. But he looked at the other boys skating and was determined to do the same thing. It was all I could do to help him lace up those skates when all I really wanted to do was turn them back in so I didn't have to see Kason struggling any longer!! But he put those skates on and slowly went back to the wall to cling on for dear life. As we watched, though, we saw him venture away from the wall out into the rink. I held my breath and prayed that he wouldn't have a fall requiring a trip to the ER. But he didn't fall. He was skating!!! Not fast, mind you. And he did still fall a few times. But my baby boy was skating around the rink!!! I was cheering like a lunatic and had tears in my eyes. I am sure everyone there thought I was crazy. But what did I care?!? My baby was skating! I was so very proud of him for not giving up!! This picture is dark, but is the only one I could get of him on his skates. I am one proud Mama!!

I am so proud of the sweet boy Kason is and am looking forward to the young man that he will become, by the grace of God. I love you Kason!!!