Boy Trauma

As I was washing dishes today, I was reliving our evening yesterday. We celebrated the beautiful weather with a good old fashioned cook-out. We had yummy burgers on the grill. The weather was so great, I delayed the start of dinner prep (my first mistake). The weather was so great, I agreed to make chocolate milkshakes with the dinner (my second mistake). The weather was so great I lost track of time and my kids were much delayed in getting to bed! All that being said to explain what happened next.
My boys share a room. They both wanted to listen to music but of course, not the same station. I gave them a choice of either agreeing on one station/cd or wearing headsets. I'm quite wise and I considered my job done! About 20 minutes later I hear sniffling coming from the room. When I inquire to the cause, the sniffling becomes bawling! After much detailed detective work, I discover that Caleb is crying because he had decided not to wear headphones but to turn his music off. When Jack saw the unused headset, he decided to use them. He put them on and quickly fell asleep. Caleb than laid there pondering how much he really wanted to use the headset but had not realized it until Jack had them! That pondering led to sniffles, which then lead to sobbing!
So anyway, this morning I was thinking about how I might have contributed to Caleb's easily riled state. Late dinner, chocolate too close to bed time and late lights out. This is not a good combination for my normally very easy going son. All the sudden it dawned on me how blessed he truly is. My little guy's biggest trauma currently is that his brother decided to use his unwanted head phones! I'm so grateful to God that He saw fit to "return" this little boy to a state of childhood. I know that there was a life before moving here- I have the bins of papers to prove it! But it seems so distant to me now. My prayer is that God will use Caleb in a mighty way to demonstrate the sovereignty of God. I also pray prayers of gratitude that despite his past, Caleb has such a loving, generous, and fun outlook on life. I know that we are far from perfection in our home. So many times, I focus on how we might be failing as Godly parents. But the incident last night, was just a reminder of how far God has brought us all. What a blessing to be used as a tool to change the life of another. Isn't it amazing how God uses the same circumstance to have us give and receive? Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. you will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart" I have always considered this my "salvation" verse. It is the verse that God used to do surgery on my heart. It is the verse, that He used to show me to trust Him and to instruct me on what I needed to do to find Him. When I first read it, I was certain that He put it in the Bible just for me! Now, I share it with my son.