A New Level

It is amazing to watch the boys grow and develop. Watching early turn four and move from a toddler to a little boy has been fascinating. He is continuing to reach all new levels of understanding, coupled with 15,000 questions, about life and the world around him. Today was teacher appreciation day at school. We put a small gift together for his teachers and the boys carried their gifts in to give to their teachers. As I was walking Eli to his class I said - "Now when you give your teachers your gift say - Thank you for being a good teacher." And he looked up at me and said, "I can't do that, they will laugh at me."And to be honest I was a little heartbroken. All of the sudden this curious little boy is worried about what other people will think about him. While I appreciate the awareness and the self control that way of thinking brings, I hate the loss of innocence that comes with worrying about other peoples opinions and actions. Now come the 1000s of life lessons that I think we are all still learning to worry less about what others think and more about who Eli is and who we all are in the eyes of God and how we - in our small way can make an impact on the world.