Life is so full. It has ups and downs everyday. Stress,
busyness, sickness and sometimes even loss are intermixed with happiness and
joy. It can be an emotional rollercoaster for the heart and mind.
It seems difficult to predict how my son will react. Some
things we’ve learned are just not good for him such as loud noisy crowds and
video games. A room full of rambunctious children can send him crouched in a
corner with his hands over his ears. Most video games he can only handle for
about 30 minutes before he loses his temper.
There are other times when I feel he should be reacting
more, or differently. This week has been one of those very full weeks. Last
Friday, he was looking forward to going home with a friend. When the boy’s
mother arrived to pick them up, he said he did not want my son to come over. We
still don’t know why, but they are friends again today. It was a sad afternoon
for him, but he buried himself in his books.
The next day, we went
to pick out baby chicks to start our flock. I surprised him by taking him to a
farm where I knew they had baby black chicks. They had other types too, but he
has had his heart set on a black one for over a year now. I had not planned to
get chicks at this place because she was more expensive, but I knew he really
wanted a black one. He was calm, but happy as she let him take the net and
scoop up the chick of his choice. It was a Black Sex-Link (black ones are
female, white ones are male). He named her “Nightwing”. He held her box close
and talked to her while we drove to the next farm. There we purchased our
Golden Comet “Hailey” and our Easter Egger “Annabelle”. When we got home, he
was calm and helpful as we set up the brooder box.
The next morning was
the local BAHA Horse Show. He placed 1st in Trail and 2nd
in Equitation. Again, he was excited but acted pretty much as expected. It was
his first show on “James” the Percheron he has been riding. He is a very large horse,
so he had to have a leader as a precaution. But he didn’t seemed to mind too
much.
Monday was a holiday; Martin Luther King Day. It was a day
off of school for Kyle and off of work for me. We had a lazy day at home with
the chicks, tv and a few chores. In the afternoon we headed out to pick up my
hubby from work. We met him halfway at our friends’ house. My hubby’s boss is the husband of one of my
best friends . So, he sometimes rides with him and our families hang out
together. This day was a short visit. Us girls all talked while the boys played
out back. Then the husbands arrived so we stayed a little while.
I started hearing noises out back and was about to go out
when her husband came in. He said that Kyle had stepped on something. When I
got out there, he was screaming and holding his foot. Whatever he had stepped
on had gone through his shoe and into his foot. He had ripped it out himself
and threw it away in anger. His screams drew the neighbors attention and he
said all sorts of unkind things about never playing out back again. He finally
calmed down when we reminded him that we were going to his favorite ice cream
place.
The next day my Mom became very ill. It took some convincing
to get her to go to the hospital. I kept Kyle posted on how she was doing,
without too many details. He seemed fine with it all, just sort of matter of
fact. His foot really isn’t healing like
it should, but he had a checkup scheduled for Wednesday. The doctor said if it did
not improve by Friday, we would need to call in some antibiotics. My Dad
already had day surgery scheduled for Thursday and Mom was still in the
hospital facing surgery herself. This has made for a crazy, stress filled week
at best. Then Thursday morning, we lost Nightwing.
I had warned Kyle that she did not seem as strong as the
others. She was listless and did not grow like the others (yes, baby chicks do
grow in only 4 days). When I got up that morning, all three chicks woke up as
usual. Hailey and Annabelle went to the food dish and began to eat. Nightwing
seemed to just reposition herself and go back to sleep. A few minutes later,
she was gone.
When I woke Kyle, I gently told him that she did not make
it. At first I thought he would be ok. But when he saw her tucked into the
little tin I found for her, he fell to pieces.
So, before dawn, we buried her at the foot of our peach
tree. We both stood crying and hugging in the moonlight. How can we become so
attached in five short days! As sad as I am for the little bird, I am more upset to see Kyle so sad. I had hoped to
give him enough warning to prevent all this. But he has not had to deal with
death very much in his thirteen years, except for pets.
So, Dad’s surgery went fine and he is home. Mom’s lab tests
came back saying there is no cancer. Hopefully, they will do a procedure today
and she will be home soon. Nightwing is in heaven. Life goes on.
As exhausted as I am, I woke up 2 hours early today. The
coffee is warm and sweet and there are few distractions. The house is quiet
except for the occasional scratching and pecking from the brooder box. It has
been a perfect time to write. Now it’s time to start the day. I have to check
Kyle’s foot first thing to see if it is improving. Hopefully, Mom will come
home and things will calm down. I am
looking forward being out in the sunshine today, setting up activities for my
students and watching for hawks in the sky. Times like that are when I can most feel the
Lord’s embrace.
As rough of a week as it was, the Lord has seen us through.
I pray for strength and guidance always, and for a quieter week ahead.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you
face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith
produces perseverance.” James 1:2-3 NIV
