He did it!

Every mother has a list of wishes for their child, from the minute they meet them face to face.  In some long lost journal up on a shelf in Charlie's room, I wrote mine for him.  Maybe I should glance at it before completing this post?  Nah…

Charlie has always been the inquisitive type.  Books and puzzles were attractive to him from an early age.  Being a former teacher,  I would not say no to buying a book for my children.   When your kids grow up knowing books and learning are fun, it's amazing what they will do with it.

When we moved to Canada, he was three and a half.  I distinctly remember him staring at the maps we used to drive across the country.  They amazed him.  And why wouldn't they?  They were colorful, interesting and straight forward- and easy to understand at any age.

Much of his free time was spent in front of the large North American map that hung on the office wall. He'd either study it or bring blank paper and copy it free hand.  Thus began his in depth love of all things geographical.

Fast forward eight years or so.  He's a self taught kid who reads every non-fiction book he can get his hands on.  Some kids play sports.  My kid reads.  Some kids read best selling fiction.  My kid reads books about learning Russian and Science books.  Some kids have no interest in learning new things.  My kid can't get enough of new information.  It's the way God made him.

Friday was his third time competing in the State Geography Bee.  After two years of experience, his maturity and comfort level kicked in, unlike previous years.  He'll tell you that he studied more than in other years, and more methodically.  Obviously, it paid off.

He won the entire competition without missing a single question all day.  Out of all the wishes I ever had for him as a infant, I'm fairly certain none of them involved winning a big competition.  Plenty of life skills had to be practiced that day; patience, good sportsmanship, being cool under pressure, wisdom, being gracious to journalists, and relishing the moment.  His composure through it all astounded me.  Sometimes I wonder if we've done right by him when it comes to certain things (don't ALL parents have this worry?), and other times I know that he's got no excuse to not do it properly.

More important than the win, was the chance to see him shine.  There are certain personality traits our children carry, that in the wrong light can be construed as negative.  Yet, when circumstances arise that are out of our control, sometimes those "negative" traits become positive.  Such was the case on Friday.  It's a wonderful thing to watch your child bloom right in front of you.  Seeing them in a new light, being humbled by the gifts God gave him/her, brings me to my knees in utter awe.  Part of it is knowing I could NEVER do what he did.  The other part is realizing that he is a unique individual, given a set of gifts and talents that God is showcasing in ways I never could have predicted.

Yes, Charlie won.  But God gets all the credit.

Amen.