Another Year Another Dream

We have managed to end our summer with a bang. Matthew had an AMAZING reading teacher last year. Mrs. Smith is very creative in her approach to teaching. And with Matthew's low self-esteem and reading difficulties he needed someone who could reach him at his level. Mrs. Smith did that 1000 times over.

And she's had a neat program going for years. She really wants her kids to read; so if you read 25 chapter books and do a small book report on each, then at the end of the year you are eligible for several prizes. One of the prizes is an airplane ride. Her husband owns a small 4 seater plane and will take the kids out at the end of the year if they qualify.

Mark did not qualify. He did not read books that were required for the reports. I did not think Matthew would qualify either. I mean Mark LOVES to read--Matthew did not. So if Mark did not make it I naturally assumed that Matthew wouldn't either. But Mrs. Smith had a couple of other ways to earn this ride. If you were in her homeroom class and kept your folder clean, you were eligible as well. But Matthew never had a clean folder before. So again, I was doubtful.

However, God has blessed Matthew beyond measure!! He went all year without a folder pull and he qualified for that plane ride! Due to Mr. Smith's busy schedule it was hard to peg down a time. Here we are in the final week of the summer break and we thought maybe it just wouldn't happen. Which was okay. I know how busy life gets, and while we were sad we had resigned ourselves to believe that maybe it just wouldn't happen.

But Mrs. Smith is an amazing adult who once again taught the kids a lesson by honoring her word. She promised to give them that ride and she kept that promise. This week was another dream come true for Matthew. AND she let him take two people with him so he chose his brothers. How selfless is that?! Mark is the only one who's flown and he was about a year old when that happened. So none of them have had such an experience before.

I cried as the plane took off. Not out of fear, but complete joy that God has greater plans for my boys than I sometimes give Him credit for. I don't know what I did that God was gracious enough to give me these gifts, but I am grateful. And I can't wait to see all of them grow and fulfill their purpose in this life. Because then they will really know what it is like to fly.