testings

I guess you can say yesterday was a testing of charactor. It was an eventful day to say the least.

It all began at 4am. Some noise woke me up and within seconds I could hear James shouting, "GET AWAY FROM MY TRUCK! GET AWAY FROM MY TRUCK!" My first thoughts were, "Oh my, Jim must be on one of his rants." Then I hear James shouting, "GET AWAY FROM IT! GET AWAY FROM IT!" Puzzled, I walk to the front door to see what is going on and find a scene of chaos. James and Jim are shouting at each other and behind them I see a big, bright fire burning near the driveway and another, smaller fire a few feet away from the truck. There was such a sense of panic in the atmosphere that my instict was to call for help and I was starting to dial 911 when James saw me and started shouting for me to call.

THAT conversation, my friends, I never want to be tortured by being forced to hear. All I can say is I admire all 911 operators for being able to calm and decipher the words of panicked callers. While on the phone I looked out the door again and realized it was Jim's motorcycle! By then everyone was awake and looking out the front window so I made them all go the back of the house just in case the gas tank exploded. Somehow in all the chaos James yanked the water hose and broke a water line so we were rushing to get the water turned off to save the water well pump.

Jim was in shock so dealing with him, calming him down, was my next objective. Once I learned details of what happened I wanted to cringe at what could have been. His pants are scorched and the hair on his leg is singed.

He worked so hard for that bike. He saved money to pay cash for it. It was his biggest possession, you know? He's heartbroken over it. It's hard and my heart goes out to him but, on the other hand, it is an experience that gives him an opportunity to build his character. We've been blessed. He's been blessed. I thank and praise God for keeping a merciful hand on him.


before


and after












The other big event actually started a week ago. TaeKwonDo belt testing was last Friday. Jeff passed and got his Senior Red belt on Tuesday. Jared was having an off day and passed everything but breaking boards. We found later that he had a problem with his technique. We attended classes Thursday, Friday, and again yesterday in preparation for his re-test yesterday. Just let me say that Jared has had an awesome attitude about the whole thing. He has not gotten mad or frustrated one time. He didn't complain when I suggested attending an extra class to work on technique. I am so, so proud of him. So, yesterday after the Big Fire event and a TKD class we found a place with some good eats and showed up for his retest. They asked him to spar another kid for *his testing. Breaking boards was the very last testing event. He set up his board for his kick...and busted thru the first attempt! He set up the board for his elbow smash...and busted thru the first attempt! I was so excited! He'll get his Sr Red belt on Tuesday and I'll post pictures of both of them after that.