14 Years

It's hard to really take in, but our oldest son turned 14 today. Fourteen years seems like such a long time but it's really only a blink. He's grown and changed so much, especially over the last couple of years, and yet he's still my little boy. My little boy at 5'11", that is. It's hard to imagine that he is only a couple of years away from having a driver's license and only 4 1/2 years away from graduating from high school. Garrett says that there is nothing really spectacular about turning 14, but I disagree. Fourteen seems like a huge leap to me. At 13, he was just finding out what it's like to be a teenager. Now, he wants more freedom, more privacy and more choices. He's such a responsible young man and he is a leader among his peers, whether he's on the football field, the basketball court, the classroom or with the youth group at church. But he's still my little boy and his brother's aren't all that far behind him. This time next year, I will have a high school student, a middle school student and an elementary school student. Sometimes it makes me feel old, but mostly it makes me proud of the young men they are all becoming and of how they continue to find their passion for Christ and for life. I am excited about their futures and their ability to dream about the men they are becoming.