Are You Ready For This ?

Today marked the last day of school for my kiddos for this school year.  This is an occurrence every year, and usually signals all sorts of upcoming events that I'm very excited about: backyard barbecues, Popsicles on the front lawn, trips to the swimming pool, little mini-vacations, and even working in the yard on family projects together.  Karen even has some great plans for a summer schedule to help keep the kids from either extreme (being sooooo bored or just playing video games and watching movies all day).  All in all, it should be a great summer vacation for everyone in the Case household.

But that's not what has me in a reflective mood.  It is what happens after this summer that has me nearly paralyzed with fears of inadequacy, both my own and that of my children.

Here are the BIG changes coming our way in early August:
- Josh Jr (our oldest) will begin High School.  Not only that, but he will also begin attending early morning seminary which starts before 6:00am.  I am NOT a morning person!  I think he will adjust just fine, but time certainly goes faster once they're labeled by school year names: Freshman.
- Ben (2nd oldest) will be in TWO different advanced classes (8th grade math and Honors English) in only his second year of middle school.  He's plenty smart enough, but I'm running out of things I can help him with when it comes to his homework!
- Brooklyn (our oldest girl) will begin Middle School.  She is ready for this, but I am NOT!  She's still my little girl but 6th grade brings with it the start of becoming a woman and I am NOT ready for her not to be my little girl any more!
- Savannah (our middle child) will now be our oldest, and therefore most relied upon, kid at the elementary school.  She's up to the task but watching out for her and her younger sister(s) (especially that crazy Catalina!) will be a challenging change for her.

Myra, who turns 4 this summer

- Myra (our youngest daughter) will begin attending pre-school.  This would be just exciting except that she is still not 100% potty trained, which always fills parents' heads with trepidation about being judged as horrible parents.

As with anything else, I'll try not to worry too much about the changes until they get here, but the gloomy cloud of possible problems seems just a short ways down the horizon.  Wish us luck!


Song Of The Day:
I heard "The End Of Innocence" by Don Henley on the radio today and it just felt fitting for the post I had in mind.  It's probably more related to my oldest son and oldest daughter switching to completely new schools, but it also seems like the innocence of all my kiddos is disappearing so fast.  I'm really not sure I'm ready for this, but I guess I have to be.

7 - Is That A Knife ?

From the Facebook post little known facts about Josh Case Sr:

7 - While serving my two-year mission in Los Angeles, I was held at knife-point and had my life threatened ... by my missionary companion.

There is too much of a story here to summarize properly, but here are the pertinent details:
 - Missionaries have certain rules they are expected to follow and my companion broke one of them by having a small television set which he began watching periodically.
 - I followed the proper chain of command in reporting this to my District Leader. This eventually led to our Mission President calling and leaving a message on our answering machine informing my companion that he needed to get rid of the tv.
 - My companion stated that he was going to kill whoever told the President about his tv.  He suggested that it was our District Leader and I corrected him (fearing not for my own life but rather for the life of my fellow missionary).
 - My companion then calmly walked into his bedroom and came back carrying a 6-inch hunting knife (possessing such a weapon was another rule he was breaking).

The remainder of the experience is a bit of a blur to be honest.  I remember being punched and pushed.  I remember being picked up by my shirt collar and thrown against a wall.  I remember my District Leader and his missionary companion breaking down the door to our apartment and physically restraining my companion until the Mission President arrived.

One thing I want to clarify ... this missionary remained serving in the mission field, at my request.  A few days after the event, our Mission President asked me what I thougt should happen to the other Elder.  I asked that, if he was remorseful and repentant, he be given the choice to remain serving as a missionary for the remainder of his time.  He stayed, repented, and served many other people.  I think this is a very important lesson to remember and it is the part of the story I prefer to focus on.  People make mistakes.  But repentance and forgiveness is real.


Song Of The Day:
I know it is a love song but "The Heart Of The Matter" by Don Henley has a repeated refrain of forgiveness and that is why I picked it for this post.  I never spent any more time with this Elder again.  He never met with me or sought me out to apologize.  That doesn't really matter to me.  If he needed to do that to forgive himself then I would have (or still would) welcomed that.  But I didn't need that.  His outburst was uncalled for, but probably a sign of deeper issues he was working through.  There is no value in my carrying a grudge or holding this against him, then, or ever again.  In the song there is another phrase that says "you keep carrying that anger, it'll eat you up inside."  How true that is!

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