Gates is 7!!!

Gates had an amazing birthday celebration this year! Sister Chari, treated Him to a day in Disney's Animal Kingdom Park! He has a fascination for giraffes and elephants. The safari jeep ride provided Him with the opportunity to see them both along with a bunch of other neat things he enjoyed. Like a lot of 7 yr olds, Gates likes to play with dinosaur toys, color in dinosaur coloring books and assemble dinosaur puzzles. He was thrilled to ride the dinosaur equivalent to Dumbo with Sister.

The following day we enjoyed Sea World. Only one of us missed that trip because He was encumbered with the heavy work of earning a doctorate. We met up with Him later though. At Sea World, Gates adores the sharks. Brother Bridger who was experienced with feeding the rays tried to coax Gates into holding onto his shrimp until the ray hovered over his hand and vacuumed up His treat. Rays have a smooth cartilage rather than teeth and they mouthe the offering and slurp it in. He wanted so badly to do it!

Dad positioned him in front of his taller brother who was petting the rays easily as they glided by due to his much longer arms. The ray would then move quickly past Bridger's reach so that Gates, standing in the security of Brother's shadow, could never reach one. Once Paul repositioned our boys Gates was first to attempt contact and Bridger could still pet the rays as they skirted past. Only now instead of shouting in frustration, Gates was jumping back when the elusive rays bumped his hand.

 Once when Chari was a very little girl, she had wanted to pet a horse but once Daddy picked her up where she could reach, she hesitated. Paul invited her to put her hand on top of his while he petted the horse, offering her the chance to slide her own hand off of his onto the horses neck should she want to. She did so and continued petting that horse for several minutes on her own. I saw this played out again as Chari reached to the bottom of the tank retrieving the dropped shrimp and handing them back to Gates so that he could muster up the courage to hold his hand beneath the surface long enough.

 Gates tried but grew more frustrated. So, he got washed up at the sink while Bridger fed the rest of his shrimp to the rays. Gates enjoyed watching the tiny rays at the other end of the pool and we moved on to the dolphins, which I fed with Chari and eventually to the shark encounter on the other side of the park. I chuckled as Gates gazed longingly at the Sharks swimming overhead and commented,"If I had my shark bathing suit here, I could get in with them right?" "Yes you could Son. Too bad we left it at the hotel." He just grinned.

It encourages me to think about the way God offers me both his protection and His strength, even as He positions me for a better view of the challenges ahead. God is patiently allowing me to rest in his shadow sometimes and other times His great love for me inspires me to try and try again. It ain't over 'til it's over! I'm safe if I succeed and safe if I don't. It's not my effort that assures me the win... It's the fact that He has never lost a challenge. Love Y'all!