Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you….”
Oh no, what did he do this time? That was my common response during our son’s teenage years. After being homeschooled through eighth grade, Josiah entered high school filled with a sense of…well… adventure. It seemed like every month we got a call from the guidance counselor informing us of some near-disaster that had been averted. Like the time he wanted to demonstrate to his English class how he could insert the foil from chewing gum wrappers into an electrical outlet and cause a “mini explosion.” Unfortunately, it also caused the breaker to go off, killing the lights as well as his teacher’s computer.
Then there was the time after soccer practice that he jumped on the trunk of a moving car (Mom, it was only going 5 miles per hour!) right as the coach was coming out of the locker room. And the day he took a dare to place himself in an empty garbage can and roll down the school ramp. We were thankful the damage was limited to a broken arm.
But one of the most classic examples is when someone on the morning school bus dared him to wax his hair. Now, we’re not talking even mega-hold gel. But Wax…the kind that has the potential of transforming a simple head of hair into a lethal weapon! The finished product consisted of hard, pointy spikes all over Josiah’s head…
Upon arriving at school, his homeroom teacher suggested he visit the principal with his new look. She didn’t want him to be distracting to the other students. On the way to the office, he suddenly got concerned that his spikes might look a bit demonic. And because he didn’t want the principal to think he in any way worshiped Satan, he grabbed a marker and wrote across his forehead God Rocks! It took us weeks before we were able to wash all the wax out of his hair.
That was a few years ago, and although my son has matured quite a bit since high school, he still possesses that bold, adventuresome spirit. He’s not intimidated about what others might think when he tells them about his faith. And he’ll take a risk, if necessary, to speak the truth. His developing confidence in God and love for people has demonstrated many things to me, not the least being that undeniably…
God Rocks…