Sigh.
Sigh.
“You’re supposed to ask me what’s wrong when I sigh.” This is what Cub 3 tells us when she says “sigh” repeatedly. So, I’m gonna assume that you’re asking me what’s wrong since I sighed.
Y’all, Cub 2 is on his way back to Atlanta this morning. Even though he’s been at home much longer than expected, I still feel like I could have used more time. He became an official Atlanta resident in August when we moved him into his first apartment. He’s not too far from campus, but he’s far enough that we had to buy him a car for his commute to and from campus. I have to admit, he has been very responsible, disciplined and focused with this new level of freedom and independence.
While Cub 2 was here on his winter break, he was accepted into his school’s CTEMS (Cinema, Television and Emerging Media Studies) program. It’s a whole process to get into the program including an interview, script writing, and having a required GPA of 3.0 or better. Cub 2 also auditioned and was chosen for a role in an upcoming theater production on campus next month. It’s hard to stay sad when he has such great things happening down there! Unfortunately, those great things are happening ten hours away from his Mama Bear.
Sigh.
All of our cubs make us proud on the regular. Cub 1 is in ministry, so Papa Bear (PB) can offer insight and direction. Cub 1 also majored in psychology, so we can get excited talking about the mind. Cub 3 can ask PB about basketball and I understand her creative side with painting. She is most likely to become the next lawyer in the family, too. I can help Cub 4 with managing her asthma and allergies. I think she’ll end up working with children in some form when she’s older, however she also has some pioneer tendencies.
We call Cub 2 our pioneer. Most of what he’s involved in includes things that we know absolutely nothing about. The CTEMS program, auditioning for acting roles, taking acting classes, analyzing movies, and writing scripts are all things that we cannot help with. We can’t share how we used to do it. We can’t connect him with our friends who are also in the movie industry because we don’t have any. We can’t advise him on which classes might be more beneficial than others. We are slowly learning the lingo. We probably get on his nerves with the number of questions that we ask him. Should we come to opening night or closing night? What do other families do? An 88-page script is small? How big can they get?
We support Cub 2 with our finances. Meaning, we continuously invest in his future career. We have paid for acting classes. We have purchased equipment for recording and producing and we are prepared to do more, if needed.
We also support Cub 2 with our physical presence. Whenever there’s an opportunity to see him in action, we plan to be there…even if he has some curse words in his lines.
Most of all, we support Cub 2 with our prayers. Being the first in our family, the pioneer, means that it takes a level of courage that the rest of us haven’t experienced. Going into unfamiliar territory can result in victory or defeat, but always lessons learned and faith strengthened. So, we cover him in prayer because no one loves him more than his Father and He wants the best for him just like us.
Who is your family’s pioneer? Or is it you? How do you support them even though it may not be your cup of tea? I bet you already are supportive. Driving them to and from practices and games or performances, showing up for what matters most to them, and offering encouragement impacts your loved ones more than you’ll ever know.
We’ll talk,
Mama Bear
Living the simple life Spiritually, Mentally, and Physically 