We have a 16-year old.
Take a deep breath.
Or ten.
Sixteen is another one of those numbers on my mental calendar that I have tried to ignore. But, it doesn't matter how much I try to ignore it or not think about it, it still comes. It's here.
Sixteen feels like the next big step in releasing him a little farther, letting him soar a little higher. One day soon I will stand in the driveway and watch as the tail lights disappear with him in the truck and me still standing there. I don't know that I will ever get used to that. I don't know that I will ever not get a lump in my throat. That's the way parenting is, I guess. There always the tension between the joy, fun and wonder of raising and watching them grow up and the scariness of raising and watching them grow up.
I've always said that Hannah Kate and Ellie (especially Ellie) have gotten a much better version of Mom than Mason. He is my firstborn. He will always be my baby, not matter how old he is in years or how tall he is in feet. He raised me as a Mom. And he's still doing it. I was reminded of that this afternoon sitting in the passenger seat as he was pulling out of a parking lot and then driving down the interstate. I'm feeling so sorry for him having to put up with his nervous nellie mama. But he handled it with such grace, as he has with all my many mistakes and missteps. He has modeled and taught me more about grace and forgiveness than absolutely anyone else on this earth.
So what does 16 look like? Compromises over hair (no, you may not grow a mullet) and shoes (but we finally took a step forward in this regard yesterday). "I don't know" or "I don't care" when you ask a preference. Popeye's chicken tenders or Cane's chicken fingers or Chick-fil-A's chicken sandwich. Root beer (gross). Texts when you're right beside them. Chocolate milkshakes and Oreo cheesecakes. Fast cars and drifting. Picking on the littlest sister. Laid back, chill and calm. Refusing to smile for pictures. Determined to win and to always be right. Beating the odds and overcoming every single time.
I'll tell you this every single time I drop you off somewhere or before you walk out the door. Remember WHO you are. And remember WHOSE you are.
I have prayed so many prayers over this guy. Mason's verse is Jeremiah 29:11. The Lord gave me this verse years before I ever knew the struggles he would face, years before I would begin to understand the significance of it. I've had the honor of a front row seat for 16 years watching that GOOD plan unfold. My prayer continues to be that Mason will love, know and follow hard after Jesus and His plan for Mason's life.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11