God is Good

I wish I could step inside the mind of my Ivan. He is wonderful to be around daily and a mystery to keep up with.

His actions are almost always a surprise to me but I understand and even relate to them afterward. I am realizing more and more how much like me he is. I see his stubbornness and I hate it with him. I know he hates it too, because I react the same way he does to so many things. "Just Say No." This is not a motivational speech for us...it is our theme in life. If there is any reason to lack faith in something, if there is reason to believe injustice is at work, if things do not line up as they should we do not move forward. He and I have the same bent toward what is right and perfect.

While Madison was with us last week, she was very frustrated with him at times. He loves her...adores her even...but would not obey her. It was not that he thought she was leading him astray, but rather that he did not view her as an authority. At one point I told Owen to help Ivan find some clean shorts to put on. Madison got to him before Owen and her eagerness to help was met with a cold shoulder and a refusal to acknowledge she was speaking to him at all. Had I told her to help him, he would have been fine with it, but because the scene played out differently than my direction...he refused to play his role at all.

I am learning more about myself as I watch him and my hope is that I can help him to avoid some of the areas I did not fare so well in as I matured.

He is becoming more interested in numbers and even a little math in the past few months. He likes to count things and seems to understand addition and subtraction to a degree. The alphabet and reading are of little interest right now, but he has time for that.

His enthusiasm, his affection and his compassion are fully alive and I enjoy his passion in life. He is a bright and beautiful boy.