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| So What Happens Now?
As parents, the moment we chose to bring children into our lives, we made a commitment to do our best to love them, provide for them and raise them to be productive contributors to our society. We did not promise to be their friends, ensure they always loved us, to give them everything they want or to provide them an "easy" life.
When John came to us, the idea of having rules was a very difficult concept for him. It was made more confusing when we began teaching him that clothing, friends and having fun were not the be-all end-all to life. Over the last two years, we've attempted to teach John how to communicate, to take responsibility for himself, how to become a man with pride in himself and most importantly, what it means to have a family who will stand by his side through thick and thin.
He has definitely learned some of this. When he arrived, he was repeating his 8th grade year. In two years time, he completed 8th-12th grade and graduated with a 3.9 GPA. He has learned that one doesn't have to wear all designer clothing and that it's okay to put on a pair of dress pants and a polo once in a while. He has even learned how to do some cooking and cleaning. The rest, we believe, are seeds planted into his life that will be fruitful in later years.
Having said all that, it's time to share the plan. Gary and I sat down and had a long talk about what we could to do to help John. We weighed all the options, including what John wanted and realized that we have done all we can (perhaps it would be more accurate to say we have done all John will allow us to do) to help prepare him for his future and that it was time for John to decide what he wants for his life. Having talked to him about his options, he decided he wanted to return to Tennessee. He apologetically told us that he did not want to stay here and follow the rules. With that, we talked to his aunt and uncle and they have agreed to allow him to return to Tennessee and stay with them while he gets signed up for the military and waits to ship out.
We do not know what is going to happen, but we know that God has promised us our sons shall be great men and we are standing on that for all of them, John included. We love him and hope that as he makes his way into adulthood, he will find that the lessons he learned in our family help carry him successfully into a bright future.
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| Hi.
First, I want to thank everyone for all you've done to help find John. Gary and I firmly believe that John being home now is a direct result of the help and prayers everyone provided us. I'm sure, though, you'd like to know what happened.
Around midnight of May 2nd, John decided to sneak out of the house. He says it was to go buy a lighter. When we discovered him gone shortly thereafter, we locked the window he used to go out so that he would be forced to knock to get back in the house. We've caught him out like this twice before. The first time, he threw pebbles at our youngest son's window to wake him. The second time he says he slept outside, but we suspect he actually slept in an empty house next door. This time, despite having been told he is to knock, he went to another neighborhood, broke into an empty house and slept there. When he woke, he went to a friend's house, spent the day as well as a night there and ONLY called in the late afternoon yesterday because he'd heard of the search we were waging.
When he called, he had no intention of coming directly home or having Gary pick him up. Gary put pressure on him and convinced him it was not only in his best interest, but also the best interest of whoever he was with to come home right then. John finally relented and gave Gary his location at a gas station where Gary went and picked him up.
Because he was allowed to get away with this kind of behavior while living with his mom and later with his aunt and uncle before coming to live with us as our son, he gave the excuse that he didn't know we would be so worried or that this would be such a big deal. In the two years he has been with us, the worst thing he has done is sneak out of the house. He has never pulled a stunt like the one that left us all worried and searching. Because he'd made such progress in other areas of his life, there was nothing within me that thought he would be so inconsiderate, unruly or disobedient. I was wrong.
He is now on "House Arrest" which is unofficial, but most assuredly not a light sentence. Personally, I would like to see him wear a turd costume and sandwich board that says, "I acted like a real turd" while passing out fliers in the neighborhood telling everyone what he did. It won't happen, but it sure makes me smile thinking about it. Although John has not admitted who he was with, we know of at least one of the people and do plan to take further action on that front as well.
The long term is up in the air.
Thank you again for everything. We will never have words to express how much your help has meant to us.
Infinite Blessings!
Kristy
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| I want to thank everyone who sent prayers and shared my blog with others. John is home and we know it is because of the many prayers and much help getting the word out that brought his safe arrival.
I am terribly worn out right now so will update properly tomorrow.
Thank you, everyone. There is no amount of words that would properly explain our gratitude!
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| I can't seem to get this to post properly in html so please please visit http://www.yournetpass.com/ and see if you recognize our son. He has been missing since around midnight on May 2nd.
Please share the link with everyone you know.
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| My 17 year old son just shipped out for Basic Training. We're really proud of him as he makes this journey into manhood and to show him, I'd like to fulfill the last request he made of me before he left.
In his pre-training materials, he learned that if gets at least two referrals before his basic training is finished, he will gain two rank promotions. He only had three days between taking his oath and shipping out so really didn't have time to even consider making referrals. His request was that I do a little marketing magic to help him along.
So here it is, my request and the first of my efforts to help him march his way from a Private to a Private First Class. If you know of anyone who is considering joining the army, will you please please direct them my way so that I can give them my sons name to use as a referral?
Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
Infinite Blessings!
Kristy
P.S. You can have them write me at raisingsoldiers@gmail.com
UPDATE: I forgot to mention a couple things that have changed about the Army. They accept people from age 17 to 42 and are offering a $20,000 sign up bonus on ANY job if you enlist and ship between now and October 1st. College money is still available. And, if you live in Indiana or near it, I can hook you up with a great recruiter, my oldest son. :)
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