Shenanigans and Unconditional Love

Shenanigans = Boys

If I could rewrite Webster’s Thesaurus, I would make those two words synonyms.   If you are privileged enough to raise boys (and have survived the teenage years!) you’ve just had countless situations race through your mind that depict life with your bundle of blue.

I’ll never forget the overwhelming joy my nephews gave me as both my sister and brother were blessed with rambunctious boys.  Being called “Aunt Donna” lit my heart as it rolled off their lips, and still does.  As I prepared for the arrival of my first son, I wondered, “How could I possibly love my own child as much as I loved these nephews of mine? Would there be enough love to go around?”

The first moment his little fingers touched mine… every former concern just vanished.  This was MY BOY.  My very own being to mold and shape into a man of God, a world changer, a culmination of all the good (and none of the bad) traits that his father and I displayed. Well shoot! He would be just perfect in every way! 

After all, if I did everything “right” then I could keep him sheltered, safe, and molded into my perception of what God had in mind.  So, you can only imagine my dismay when on occasion things didn’t exactly go as planned – as I had planned.  After all, it is all about me, right? My responsibility. My job. My business. My decisions and choices. My, my, my… Oh, my! 

I now have two sons, six years apart. After having them, it became apparent, early in their lives, that it wasn’t ever an issue of not having enough love; once they arrived, that was the one thing, perhaps the only thing, I was sure of!  Without question, there was nothing that could happen, or that my boys could do or be, that would ever be able to change or stop my endless love, unconditional love, for them. 

But, what I wasn’t prepared for was the height of happiness and the depths of disappointment that would accompany the journey ahead. 

What I now know after years of practicing this parenting thing, there never seems to be enough patience, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and pure strength to do it alone.  The level of humility that I now live with is, in large part, thanks to my sons.

You see, there was a part of me that had to die, a deep heartfelt pride that was eradicated by the many “shenanigans” of my boys and life’s twists and turns in general that have molded me into who I am today, the person that is able to look outward rather than inward, and see life for what it really is…. fully dependent on God’s grace.   

I’ve learned that we can’t plan enough, guess enough, mother enough, work enough, read the Bible enough, or even pray enough, to prepare us for life’s “surprises”.  It is through the power of grace alone that we run this race and can actually win.  As for my two boys and their shenanigans, well, we’ll take those events one adventure at a time when we chat again soon.   Believe me when I tell you, there is plenty of material to draw from as we all grow together!

Blessed to be a blessing,

Donna

Tags: blessings, gifts, giving, humility, love, missions, shenanigans, sons