Breakthrough Weekend

This last weekend was a very busy, but fun one for us. It was non-stop one thing after another, but they were all fun things.
One exciting event was the beginning of soccer season. Gavin has never played an organized sport before and by the time Jackson was this age he already had t-ball and baseball under his belt. However, we wanted to wait a little longer for Gavin. He is our emotional, sensitive, shy one (I'm not saying this is a bad thing- but just different from Jackson) so I wanted to make sure he was old enough to not cry or get embarrassed when a sranger aka-coach, would yell at him or tell him what to do. So we've put it off. He begged and begged last year to play. Finally, we registered him for soccer. I wanted to believe this would really help him with security and sensitivity issues- which can be a wonderful benefit to organized sports. Jackson had his game in the morning, then we had a quick break and it was Gavin's turn. I was so nervous he would just get distracted, walk off the field, cry, or feel humiliated. But NO! He embraced it. He ran when he was supposed to, he listened to his coach, he was smiling the whole time and his coach forced him come out and take a water break. He chugged some water and wanted to run back in the game. It was amazing to see his confidence not falter when parents on the sidelines were yelling at the kids to "get down the field" or "go to the ball". A while back he would have shut down, got embarrassed, and cried. We are making a breakthrough. He was beaming from ear-to-ear. We didn't sign him up just so he could play for fun (although I'm sure he saw it that way) this was to give him his moment of glory. It was all about him for that brief hour and he LOVED it!

Another thing that happened was the primary singing program. Again, with Gavin being a little shy we can hardly get him to sing in Family Home Evening when it's just the five of us. So this is definitely something we don't get to see or hear very often. Anyone who was at his preschool graduation can attest to that. When it was time to sing a song with actions he would not stand up and would just slouch in his chair. Although, if it was a song without actions he would at least stand up and perhaps mumble the words. His teachers all claim he sings for them in singing time during church and school, but it's hard for me to believe. Anyway, all the participants in the primary program had practice the last two weeks and this included me and Frank. On our first practice we couldn't believe our eyes. Gavin stood up, he knew the words to the songs, and he was singing. Frank and I both looked at each other and I began to cry. It was such an amazing sight that just touched my heart. This continued throughout all the practices. Now today at the actual program he didn't perform his best, but I know that sweet little kid has a testimony that I've heard through his singing. I might not get the chance to hear his cute singing voice anytime in the near future but for those brief two weeks I heard it and loved it.
Sidenote: I did cry today because I looked on the other side of me and Jackson was just so enthusiastic about the songs and he was singing with his whole heart and soul.
Thanks primary leaders!