Changing lanes...

 

Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.

Proverbs 29:17

Today has been a VERY long day with Grant. He seems to be stuck somewhere in between childhood and manhood. He has the heart knowledge of a grown man most times but can't put that knowledge into full practice because he doesn't have a full understanding of the ways of man. (Thank goodness)!

As we began packing his locker for camp today, the bravado and humor which he was overly full of suddenly drained from his body. For all of the knowledge and experience he has with scouts, he's never been one to like to be away from home. He knows that he'll be away for six nights - on his own. He knows that he'll have multiple duties and responsibilities to tend to. He knows that he can't text me all day long for comfort. The reality of this year's camp experience dawned on Grant as we gathered his camp items. Despite all of the knowledge you have about a situation, without having the full understanding of what will be, it all comes crumbing down. Having knowledge does NOT mean having understanding. Grant has a very solid knowledge of what this year's camp experience will be like but he doesn't have a full understanding of how it will work out for him. Right now, he's trying to change lanes between having that knowledge and putting it into application as understanding.

I can really relate right now. I'll keep it simple. I have full knowledge of what's going on in my life right now but I'm really lacking understanding. I don't like that. Knowledge is useless unless you can apply it. I read the driver's license manual over and over again and aced the written test. However, when I went to put all of those rules and regulations into practice, it didn't work so well. (The examiners took pity on me on my 3rd attempt to get my license). I can pump all of the useless test information into my students' heads and teach them the test over and over again but until they can make application of those skills, they are absolutely useless. I get it. Completely. For my driver's test, I gained understanding through practice. For my students, I try to make lessons relevant to real world situations and give them a reason to want to know why things are the way they are. But, how the heck do I turn knowledge into understanding in this situation? How do I gracefully change lanes? I feel like I'm learning to drive a 5-speed again and jerking and stalling constantly. Practice makes perfect surely won't apply. And the relevant lessons seem pretty useless, too.

Tonight, Grant and I both seem to be trying to make lane changes. While Grant can ask some questions and hopefully get more understanding about his situation, I'll wait patiently (or try to) and hope that my swerving from lane to lane without a blinker won't get me killed! (Or, I'll just stay on I-285 and no one will ever even notice that I'm swerving since that's the norm)! :)

As a side note, thanks to a real friend who showed up out of the blue to simply encourage me tonight. I absolutely love those friends that never expect to see your house looking spotless and don't care if you're wearing your pjs. They come on in and make themselves at home. If they can't find a place to sit, they simply shove the toys to the floor and don't even flinch when Cheerios roll out from under the pile or a sippy cup full of solidified milk rolls from under the sofa as the toys get shuffled around. Those are the folks I need surrounding me right now! Thanks!