Did the Teen Years Come Early?

I wish I could record all of my conversations with my kids. Ladan was having a hard time sleeping, and we ended up having the best chat until 11:30. He might be tired tomorrow, but I'm hopeful that his sleep will be more restful than it would have been with all those thoughts swimming around in his head. Some of his thoughts:

• He remembered the time last semester when one of the kids in his class had an eye patch. It just so happened that his friend started wearing the patch the week after Ladan kicked the ball in dodge ball, and it accidentally hit his friend in the eye. He's been feeling guilty because he thought he hurt his friend. Turns out his friend was just having an eye problem corrected that had been there for years.
• He started thinking about how terrible it must be for kids whose parents are separated and how they might feel like half-orphans a lot of the time.
• He was concerned that his friend, Byron, might be on the opposing soccer team in PE tomorrow. He doesn't want to accidentally hurt his friend if they're both going for the ball at the same time.
• He's a little bit nervous about Saturday's basketball game against his coach and former teammate from last session. He wants to do the best job he can for his own team, but he wants their team to do a good job too.
• He's realizing that, while God has provided some really great friends here, he might never forget some of his Louisville friends for the rest of his life. I hope he's right.

These are just a few of the topics we discussed. I'm so glad he felt like he could tell me his concerns. They might seem like small potatoes to some, but for a seven-year-old, it's big stuff.

The theme throughout our discussion was how cool it is to see God working and providing what we need at every stage... even if what we need isn't the same as what we want. No matter what, He is there with us helping us when we feel alone or scared.

And at the end of it all, in a way, I'm kind of glad that I didn't have to wait until the teen years to have a late-night heart-to-heart with my kiddo.