For this Family Friday I had to share this photo with you and the story that goes with it.
This week, John had his second concert of the year.
Since he is the director of the concert band at Cal Poly Pomona, he has three concerts a year, and it's not always easy for us to attend!
For one thing, concert times are always pretty late.
They don't start until 8pm, and that is BEDTIME in our house :)
It takes great intentionality to make a date night like this happen.
I'd like to say I had it all planned months in advance (like I should have!)
The truth is...I forgot!
I felt terrible. I could've given up, but instead, I scrambled!
The morning of the concert, I send an e-mail out to our friends and I was so thankful, two of them offered to come sit with the girls while I took the boys to go cheer Daddy on.
It's SO important to me, that I push through the effort it takes to show the kids what Daddy does all day when he's gone! It helps them connect the dots and understand that he is working hard to support our family while he's away and helping students learn more about music in the process!
All that said, I'm already working on getting a babysitter for his last concert of the year!
It's been a goal of ours, to have date nights with one or two of the kids periodically.
We don't have a schedule set up...YET, but it's opportunities like this one, that I'm thankful to take full advantage of. I get to hold two hands, look into both their eyes, and converse with them more on their level without any other distractions.
Those are sweet moments I think are good for kids in a large family to have.
To know that apart for the crowd, we see them and want to hear from their heart alone.
While living in Illinois, I took Ryder to most of John's concerts there, and it was SO fun to add Cole to the mix this time since he's grown up so much since we moved!
Just look at those little men in that photo.
So sweet.
So proud of their Daddy.
So happy to be out for a night away with their Mama (I hope!)
and so sleepy...yes...they BOTH feel asleep by the end.
And I loved it.
Ryder was out first (though he denies it!)
I loved holding Cole on my lap as he asked me questions about what was happening in the concert.
I had to turn his CI's down a bit since the music was so loud, but what a great problem to have.
As I turned him down to a softer program and turned the volume dial as low as it would go, I just thanked the Lord that he could HEAR the music.
I caught a glimpse of the movie Mr. Holland's Opus in my mind.
It's a story of a band teacher who has a son who is deaf.
His name is Cole, but his Cole didn't have CI's to hear his dad's concert that night.
I'd love to film a sequel to the movie.
One where Cole is given a chance to hear the music his dad makes daily with his band.
That's the chance my Cole got this past week.
A chance to hear his Daddy's music.
I never want to take for granted the chance he's been given to HEAR.
It is a gift.
It is a miracle.
One we will never stop thanking God for.
We will tell the story of His faithfulness to Cole until he's old enough to make it His story to tell.
Thank you Jesus.
For concerts.
For boys who want to see their Daddy conduct.
For a husband who leads his band and our family well.
For pin-striped suits and the sleepy heads who wear them.
and for new ears to hear it all.
Give us all new ears to hear your voice today...
You are worthy of our attention.
Our intentional gaze and our listening ears.
Thank-you for wanting to speak to the ones you love.
I pray, we are listening.
