Compassion

Boy, oh boy!  What a week this has been...and it's only Wednesday!  

Our week started on Monday, back from Spring Break....everyone well rested and ready to face the week!  (Little did we know)  Monday afternoon, I finished up in a meeting around 3:20.  As I walked back to my office, I prepared myself to find the boys' shoes and socks strewn about the office, with little crumbs of cheese balls covering our conference table.  To my shock, I didn't find anything.  In fact, I found my office exactly as I had left it....neither boy anywhere near.  My office mate and I raced around, looking in all their typical hiding spots.  Nothing.  I can't say that I really ever felt panic.  Rather, I knew they were safe...I just didn't know where they were.  I have my faith to thank for that!  

I called their school and was told their bus was just running late.  Fast forward to 4:00 when I received a phone call from an Unknown Caller.  I answered (which is something I never, ever do....even when I know the caller) and to my surprise I hear Warren's sweet voice, "Hi Mommy!  We are somewhere by Gigi's house."  WHAT?????  The bus attendant quickly got on the phone and told me they were in South Lakeland and had one more stop before they could bring the boys back out to me.  I explained that because I live in South Lakeland, I would rather just meet them at their next stop.  Which is what we did.  

I wish I could tell you exactly what happened, but honestly, I still don't really know.  What I do know is that somehow I ended up with a phone call from the Associate Superintendent of Operations for the Polk County School Board the next night.  You can imagine my surprise when I answered that phone call.  I was mortified!  But, Mr. Davis was very compassionate to my situation.  Still didn't change the fact that this was a lot of intense phone calls for someone who doesn't talk on the phone.   

And now, I wish I could tell you that the excitement of the week stopped there; but it didn't.  The first grade class at the boys' school is doing a project exploring how communities are organized and how our decisions can affect communities.  As part of this unit, students earn "money" to donate towards a charity, which is voted on by the students.  If they wanted, students could present a charity to the grade level before the grade level voted.  Before we even had a chance to talk to Harper about it, he had already talked to his teacher about our little boy Mark, who we sponsor through Compassion International.  And, unbeknownst to us, he made his presentation today.  And because we weren't aware that the presentation was today, we didn't have a chance to practice with him.  In any case, his teacher said he was clearly nervous, but did a great job.  To say we are proud parents, is an understatement.  How touching it was that Harper wanted his friends to support something that is near and dear to our hearts and is changing the lives of others!

And....I wish I could tell you that's the end of the story; but it isn't.  You see, just as Harper was giving his presentation about Compassion International, another little boy gave a presentation on the Angel House, which is a rescue orphanage.  Apparently the young boy mentioned that an orphanage is a place where kids go when they are abandoned....because my sweet, compassionate Harper then proceeded to tell the young boy, "My mom was abandoned by her dad when she was little, but she wasn't exactly an orphan because she still had her mom."

Colossians 3:12 says "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."  After this week, I'd say we've got compassion, humility and patience covered!

History Repeating

From what my mom tells me, I was a bit of a stubborn, hard-headed little girl.  (Those who know me well, know not much has changed; and know that Harper is that little girl's twin!)  Mom tells a story of a day when I got so upset, I decided I was going to run away.  The story goes that I packed my bag and called my grandmother to come pick me up.  Then I waited at the end of the driveway.


Today, Harper got so mad he, too, decided he would run away.  Because my mom has told my "run away" story so many times, of course I had it in the back of my mind; so I told myself Harper would probably just go maybe to the end of the street.  I watched from the front porch.


But, that's where the similarities in the stories end.  Harper was mad; he was filled with rage.  He took off, backpack in tow.  It was when he started to cross the street that I realized he wasn't just waiting for grandma to come pick him up.  So I took off after him, which only made his rage worse.  (Another big difference in our stories.....cell phones!)  As I was texting Chris to bring the car, he came running up behind us.  After grabbing Harper's arms, holding him back, through his screams....Chris lifted his 85-pound, adrenaline filled body over his shoulder.  He carried him back to the house, as we both just prayed the neighbors weren't calling DCF.

*As a sidenote....this was a huge lesson in judgement for us, as we surely would've talked about "those people" carrying their kicking and screaming son down the street....had it been someone else.

I'll spare you all the details of when we got back home, but will just tell you instead that it was a very long afternoon.  After lots of alone time and lots of talk time, Harper decided on some color therapy.  When he finally came out of his room, he showed us his masterpiece.  A completely changed kid from an hour before.  And what I thought would be a very angry drawing, with scribbles and scratches and dark colors.....was completely opposite.  Instead, it was an incredibly symmetrical, calm, happy and bright picture.  And as he told me about it, he even said he used the "rubbing technique" his former Sunday school teacher, Ms. Cathy, taught him 3 years ago.

I don't ever remember hearing how the rest of my "runaway story" turned out.  And now that we made it through Harper's story....I can't help but wonder how the next story will go.  (And I hope and pray the next story doesn't happen for about 20 years.....and is that of Harper's child.)

Harper D. Mayes

Harper D. Mayes.  So those that know Harper, know that the D truthfully stands for Davison, but I'm beginning to think the D stands for Determined!  When given the right motivation...this kid is some kind of determined.  We noticed it most recently with football.  Our smart, funny, creative, non-athletic kid gave up going to get pizza for playing football...all for a bag of Skittles.  Had an asthma attack.....to get the bag of Skittles.

That same smart, funny, creative, non-athletic kid surprised us again this morning!  His amazingly brilliant teacher has a class challenge.  Whoever earns his/her reading goal first in the nine weeks, earns lunch of his/her choice. Ummmmm, did you catch that?  You earn F-O-O-D!  Last nine weeks, he tied with one other girl...so they both earned the lunch.  But, this time...Harper was in it to win it!  He came home yesterday telling us that this girl just needed one more point to earn her goal, but he was bound and determined not to let that happen.  With that, he read for one hour....reading, begging us to ask him questions to make sure he knew the books and would pass the tests, and asking us to read with him.  Finally, after an hour, he reluctantly went to bed.

Then, the strangest, craziest, most amazing thing happened.  I heard his bedroom door open this morning around 5:30am.  I listened as he went to the bathroom and then tiptoed into our room.  I lifted the covers and motioned for him to crawl in bed with us, to which he replied "No, mom, I want to get up and read, but could you help me get dressed quickly?"  Whaaaaaaa???  There's a difference between determination and just plain crazy!  It was 5:30 in the morning!  "Oh wow buddy.  That's awesome!  Daddy can help you get dressed."  So, at 5:30 in the morning, Chris dragged himself out of bed to help Harper get dressed quickly so he could finish reading.  

When the rest of us got up at 6:00, we found Harper sitting in the family room, reading quietly.  When Warren joined him for breakfast, we found Harper reading quietly as he ate his grits.  And this morning, as we received email after email that he had taken and passed all of his tests, we found Harper.....first one in his class to earn his reading goal!  

Crazy....yes!  Determined.....heck yes!