Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

NOTE TO LEANNA: Ahh. I remember it like it was this past January. I don't mean to offend, but I don't think what you're referring to is called "bouncing back" in any way, shape or form. I think it is referred to as being "zombie-like." (Don't get me wrong... I, too, would have been more than "zombie-like" with only three hours of sleep under my belt. For days and days and days after the fact.) I have to admit, you did look good in the pictures though... very bright-eyed.

NOTE: Don't forget the 200th Post Contest being held Tuesday, July 28. I'll have details first thing Monday morning.

Weekend Happenings: Well, since we're all finally back together, I want to use the time wisely. The kids all have different plans for Friday night, but we are still having dinner together.

Saturday I feel a very necessary school shopping trip coming on for the guys. (If they read the last sentence they would both be hyperventilating right about now, so I'll probably go it alone or take along my trusty shopping sidekick, Roxie.) And Mike and I are having a "night" date. We're going out to eat and then to the movies (my favorite). I think we're going to see The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. The kids are going to have a movie night at home, so we'll start the decision-making process today on which movie all three want to see.

And Sunday... Well, I've got big plans for Sunday after church. I feel the need for speed... Which in the case of the Faulkner Five means tubing. I'm watching the weather and hoping it cooperates. If it looks rainy Sunday, Mike and I might switch our date nights. Anyone can go to the movies in the rain, but tubing requires a little cooperation from the weather, doesn't it?

As always, everything is subject to change... which means flexibility is key... which means I have to be more go-with-the-flow... which is hard for me! I do figure we'll have at least three to four meals together which will be GREAT, so I have to come up with a really good weekend menu today, also.

That's it for us. Nothing spectacular, but very, very normal. I love "very, very normal," don't you?

We'll finish up the week with Sports Nut Part 3. Next week, I have a couple of "topics" in the back of my mind we might be playing with. We'll see, we'll see.

Sports Nut (Part 3) by Becky Freeman

The following year, Zeke's senior year, our family had another amazing, awful experience with football. Beautiful October Friday night, our red team playing blue team, Zeke goes down on the field. Paramedics arrive. Scott leaps the fence, but this time I wait and pray, out loud, behind the gate.

"It's his other elbow. Dislocated!" Scott shouts, and we're off to the emergency room once more.

The next day, I e-mailed every mom I knew with the following SOS:

I have some good news and some bad news. Good news: Lone Oak Buffaloes won 57-10 Friday night. They were 33-0 at the beginning of the second quarter when... Bad news:

Zeke was injured again. Same heart-stopping scene: My son lying flat on his back on the field. Paramedics coming out. I don't know if it's his head or arm or neck or back or what. (This time, however, I didn't climb the fence.) It was his other elbow -- dislocated. We spent Friday night in the emergency room and then had 25 football players over. (Zeke had planned a big party before the game -- little Rachel and Gabe cooked burgers and hosted it!)

He's going to be okay -- after a few weeks of healing. But his heart is just broken, and, because to have a child is to have your heart go walking around outside your body, ours is too. He LOVES this game, sacrificed everything to be on the team, was a star player -- and now this, his senior year. We have some really painful decisions to make about continuing or not after this latest injury.

I can't take any more scenes of my son lying on the field like that. Scott, too, says "no more" to me, in private -- but we're waiting for the doctor's report, hoping he will get to be the bad guy instead of us. The harder part is watching Zeke hurting emotionally too -- thinking of him watching from the sidelines aching to be with the team.

Please pray for him. Bless his little angelic heart, between tears (not from pain, but from disappointment), he said, "If it isn't God's will for me to play, I want to do something meaningful with my time. Maybe volunteer at the hospital or work with kids or do charity work." And I'm thinking, "God, did this kid come with invisible wings?" (He sure didn't come with very good joints.)

Love, Heartbroken, but grateful, Mommie

Over the next few days, I got messages from sports moms and friends from all over the country. "We're praying for Zeke," "I know just how you feel, Becky, I remember when our son... ." And wonderful messages from male friends, too, who poignantly recalled their own senior year and various sports-related triumphs over tragedies.

I felt somehow connected to every mother and father who understood.

The doctor eventually fitted Zeke with two robotic-like devices to protect his elbows, and he played the last two games of the season with typical resiliency, courage and joy.

I didn't know whether to cry or cheer, and watched most of those last two games from behind my hands -- only daring to peek now and again between my fingers.

Finding ourselves stuck in motherhood, we trudge forward toward cold, hard bleachers, lukewarm coffee in hand, to cheer our kids on and pray for their safety and heave a huge sigh of relief when the season is over.

In May of Zeke's senior year (completed, thank God, with no more injuries), Scott and I went to the school sports banquet. The head coach announced that they only give one award each year to the team member who has overcome obstacle after obstacle. "The award," he said, visibly moved with emotion, "is called The Fighting Heart Award. And this year that special award goes to Zeke Freeman."

What can I say? I'm a mom. I cried.

Postscript: In May of 1999, Zeke walked out the door, rock climbing gear slung over his shoulder, and waved a cheerful goodbye as he headed off to college in San Marcos, Texas. And a piece of my heart went out the door with him.

However, it comes back home one or two weekends a month, attached to two enormous bags of laundry.

And then Becky finishes her article with this verse: "Listen my son... When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life." Proverbs 4:10-13.

What a great verse to send with your child who is going to college. (I think I'll have that tattooed somewhere... on Austin!)

Book

I guess it won't be a surprise to anyone that today's book is another Becky Freeman offering. I would like to recommend Marriage 911. It's not the typical Becky Freeman book of chapter after chapter of mishaps, mayhem and laughter that come with being a mom (and being a mom who's a little "different"). It offers encouragement, advice, scripture, etc.

Here's a little description from the back of the book: In page after page describing the God-given wonder of two people building a life together, Marriage 911 touches first your heart, then your funny bone, then back again... sometimes both at once!

Becky shares her thoughts and dreams as a seventeen year-old bride; the daily challenges as a mother of four; facing the in-laws, holiday stress, budget crises, vacation meltdowns, and even the threat of divorce. Through revealing her inmost feelings about marriage along the way, she'll help you see your own marriage in a new and shining light.

It's a "good read." Trust me on this one.

Have a great July weekend. Carve out special time with your family and friends. And check back in next week for another week of the usual... parties, recipes, traditions, dates and books. (Some things never change. Isn't that refreshing?)

Take care, and I'll talk to you on Monday.