Spring is Coming!!

It has been a particularly long, wet, cold, and yes even snowy winter here in North Alabama, but I have to say that this past Friday and Saturday were absolutely BEAUTIFUL. You could not have ask for better weather. It was between 70 and 72 degrees both days and not even the white puffy clouds could be seen. It was as clear as it could be. It was such a beautiful day Saturday that I actually got out in the yard and did some Pre-Spring chores to get the yard ready. If you know me, you will know that yard work is NOT one of my favorite chores to do. Many of my friends love it and say that working in the yard is their hobby. Well good for them. I am not one of those guys, but I did get the necessary pruning and the like done.

The boys and I also washed all three cars on Saturday. We have done this many times before but Saturday had a somewhat special meaning for me. You see Alex (16) just got his first car. A Jeep that we got from his GrandMother. He is so excited over this '98 Jeep with almost 100K miles on it. It was almost as exciting for me to see the time and detail he spent in cleaning up this car. I bet he spent an hour and a bottle of Armor-All on the inside of that Jeep! It took me back to when I was 16 and how long that I would spent cleaning up the family car before "date night". Alex wanted to know everything. Where is the oil dip stick? How do I check the Radiator Fluid? He even made me go buy him an Emergency Kit to put in the back of the Jeep, which I gladly did. Even Andrew (14) got into the action by doing a REALLY good job of cleaning the Family SUV both inside an out. He washed, vacuumed, and even Windexed the windows.

It was a bitter sweet moment for me. In one sense, I still see them as the helpless infants that could sleep on my chest at night. Totally defenseless and totally reliant upon me for everything. In another light, I see them slowing growing into the young men that I hoped that they would become. I still have plenty of parenting to do. I know that I must do all that I can with the short time that I have left with them to be sure that they grow into the Men that they need to be. God grant me the strength and the Wisdom to do that.

All in all, it was a good Spring Day.