the one where I talk about all of my sons

 

(Long post alert.)

I haven't written a post about my sons in ages and I thought I'd tell you a little about all of them. They all have such big things going on in their lives that I want to take a whole post and write about them. I am so proud of them all! 

Before I start, left to right are Graham, Noah, Drew and Jonah in the picture above. Their age order is Graham (22), Drew (21), Jonah and Noah (18). I'm going in age order, because it's how I always go. 

Graham has always been our son that seemed older than his actual age. That started when he was very young and it's true today. Often times, he is a voice of reason, the one who has no problem making decisions (my biggest pet peeve is a man who won't or cannot make a decision), he is pretty organized for a guy, a planner and one who is thoughtful. He decided after he graduated to take a year off and work for our family business, which is repairing medical equipment and that one year has turned into four years! He loves his job, at least that I know of and I ask him all the time, he never dreads going to work and their customers at doctor's offices love him. He is a hard worker, he is almost always in a good mood and smiles all the time, and he is a people person. He has never met a stranger! This goes back as far as I can remember. 

I'll say just a bit more about Graham when I talk about Jonah, but I am so proud of him! He has paid his own truck note and insurance since he started working full time and is looking at buying a house. Unfortunately, it's not the time to buy a house and his price range is popular. I know he wants to be out on his own so much, but he's having to wait until something changes with the housing market, or he may have to make the decision to rent for a couple of years. 

Drew has always been drawn to kids. Dating back to his second grade year, I knew there was something special about him when his teacher awarded him the characteristic award of joy. From a young age, other kids have been drawn to Drew, as much as he was drawn to them. Even in the second grade, his teacher Ms. Morris told us kids would argue over who got to sit beside Drew everyday. When Drew was around the age of six, we were walking into church one day and some of our friends were walking in with us. They had a son around Drew's same age who had Down's Syndrome and as Drew talked to him about something, their son just ran to Drew and gave him a kiss right on the mouth. Most boys that age would have laughed or been embarrassed, but Drew didn't miss a beat and kept walking.

I say all this to say that it's been his dream for as long as I can remember to work at St. Jude Hospital here in Memphis. He starts work there on September 20 as a patient care associate, or a certified nursing assistant! I am so proud of him and thrilled for him that he gets to have his dream job. He does plan on going back and finishing his degree to become a nurse, but he is on pause with that plan until he can afford to go back and after he's been settled into St. Jude for a while. He hopes to stay there forever and I believe that they have a loan forgiveness program there, but I could be wrong. When he does go back to school, he plans on going to the Memphis satellite campus of Union University. It's an intense fifteen month program and you have to be at least 24 years old to begin. I have complete faith in the Lord that He will help Drew accomplish every bit of this. 

I didn't say anything on social media about this, but Jonah started working full time almost two weeks ago. Todd and Graham have been shorthanded in their business (I am saying "they", because as a family business, Graham has a share of the company) and when that became the case, I had an overwhelming sense that Jonah would be perfect for this line of work. First, because he is so smart and is able to fix and do anything he sets his mind to and secondly, because he is JUST like his older brother Graham and even MORE like my husband. Todd offered him the job, but Jonah was not at all interested and said he wanted to work at Amazon, or Fed-Ex, or insert any other place but the family business. 

This is where I should mention that Jonah is extremely stubborn and more than a little prideful. I love him, but it's true! I started praying that the Lord would incline Jonah's heart to change about wanting to work for the company and though it took all summer long, I am so proud and pleased to be able to say that Jonah started almost two weeks ago. And guess what? He loves it so far. I've been amazed that his attitude has been good, because he is known for having a bad attitude about a lot of things. I consider this an answer to all of my prayers! My mom was praying for him, my mom-in-love was praying for him, my dad was praying for him and my best friend was praying for him, all along with me. I'd confided in all of them about Jonah and I know they were faithful to pray. I am so proud of Jonah! Graham is training him right now at work, and remember how I said that those two are like identical twins, even though Jonah's actual twin is Noah? I'm shocked that they're still talking! Graham has been pretty patient, apparently and I know Jonah has enjoyed being with Graham everyday. 

Last but not least is Noah, the youngest and biggest/tallest in the family. Noah has loved everything about cars ever since he was a young boy. We used to have this car rug that my mom and Bill bought them when they were young, and we kept it in the living room, along with buckets full of Hot Wheels cars. That was their favorite thing and they played with it diligently until the day came that they outgrew toys. I tell you that because I think that attributed to Noah's love of cars. For a long time, he's been saying that he wanted to work in an auto body shop. He didn't care what he did, he just wanted to work there and get to be around cars and learn how to work on them himself.

He filled out an application a few weeks ago at Caliber Collision here in Collierville and his application was rejected. He called about it and asked why and someone told him it was an accident and to submit another application. He did that and got a call back pretty quickly that they'd received it and would be in touch. A full week went by and he got an interview. He was confident that it had gone well and the man said he would be in touch. Another full week went by and he didn't hear anything, so he planned to call them on Monday, but they reached out to him again for another interview, this time over the phone. On Wednesday, he received another call asking if he would be willing to work at another location, then today he interviewed at the one in Olive Branch and was offered the job right on the spot. He starts Monday! I am so proud of him for being persistent and never giving up. I feel like this is his dream coming true and you should see him talking about it, he is so excited. His hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30-5 and he gets all his weekends off. That would not have been the case had he worked at the one closest to our house. I'm so pleased that it turned out so well for him! This company seems to be a great company and they have lots of different locations. He would be able to move up quickly within the company and if he ever wants to move away, he would be able to transfer. I don't see Noah living here in town forever, but we'll see how it all turns out.

I cannot express how thankful I am to the Lord for helping them accomplish all of these things. Ever since they were young enough to be able to retain memory verses, they were raised to know and live out Colossians 3:17 and I am seeing the fruit of all that I have prayed for them over the years.

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

I write all of this to brag on my heavenly Father. He has been faithful to hear every word I've ever prayed and even if His plan had turned out differently for all of them, I asked Him to help us all to be okay with however it all turned out. And regardless of whether or not they'd gotten these jobs or other ones, I know that He is good and He is trustworthy. His plan for their lives is far better than anything I could have ever dreamt up on my own! All praise and glory to Him. And you know what, friends? They could be janitors at a ball field cleaning restrooms, or they could be doctors—I didn't care WHAT they did, as long as they did it to the best of their ability and for the glory of the Lord. Now to hear them talk about this, you won't hear that come from their mouths, but I know that someday they will confidently say that. They don't walk closely with Jesus right now, but they know Him, they are saved and He will deepen and strengthen their relationships with Him one of these days.

Our goal as parents was never to have kids do what everyone else did. Both Todd and myself are of the belief and mindset that college is not for everyone. If you look at statistics, a lot of college graduates don't even go on to work in the field they were educated in! That being said, had they wanted to go to school, we would have supported that as well. We wanted them to be able to figure out what they wanted to do and it became our goal to help them achieve that. Most of this fell to my husband and I have to hand it to him—he is the greatest man/husband/dad I know. He's not perfect like I like to joke, but he is an EXCELLENT man and dad to our sons. 

The agreement was that if they didn't attend college after high school graduation, that they would work a full time job. I am so happy to be able to say that all four of them are walking in this plan right now. I wasn't sure how God was going to answer my prayers for Jonah and Noah, but I never waivered in my faith. I knew without a shadow of doubt that He would care for them and provide them with jobs that He had planned for them. The Bible says that if God cares for the flowers in a field and the birds of the air, and provides for them what they need to survive, He cares even more for His creation. That is from Matthew 6:25-34. Read the whole chapter, it's so good! 

If you're a parent, do not ever lose heart. Pray for your kids everyday and rest assured that God hears your prayers for them. Pour it all out to Him—God knows everything that is in our hearts and on our minds, so why not? I am never ashamed to admit when I need help praying for my sons. I've been open with you on this blog and I am the same in real life. None of us are perfect and we all go through times when we struggle. One thing the enemy is good at is messing with us and us thinking that we're on an island and that nobody would understand or be sympathetic to what we're going through. Nothing could be further from the truth! Get your most trusted people and confide in them. Get you some prayer warrior girlfriends and get to praying! If you don't have that and would love for someone to help you pray, reach out to me. I'll be that for you! Nobody needs to be alone. 

I know you know this, but I am so proud of my sons. And also, I want all of this documented here for me to look back on. Thanks for reading my blog! I'm leaving you with some more of my favorite moments from years gone by. Love to all. 

P.s. I have a sign that hangs in my home that says "Being a mother is a holy privilege." I couldn't agree with anything more! It's been the joy and honor of my life being a stay at home wife and mom to these guys. We have had THE BEST times together and though I'm a little sad at the years that have passed us by, I am so excited for them and their futures. I know it just keeps getting better from here, with hard times thrown into the mix. I know that things could always change in the blink of an eye, but I also know that if that did happen, the Lord would be just as good then as He is right at this moment. I read today in Job a verse that said something along the lines of, "Should we only be willing to accept from the Lord what is good, and not accept what is sometimes bad?" After all, He does give and He takes away, but through it all, blessed be His holy name.