Options and Changes

Its kinda funny how life can change so quickly. Just as you decide on a path, see it through, things change along the way and then you adjust and get started on a different path only to find things changing once again.
When we had Damein, we started out with no plans. As he became a toddler we then discovered that he loved to play ball. As we encouraged and nurtured this talent we eventually hoped that he would grow to enjoy playing sports in school. Then before long we had to choose what school we wanted him to grow up in and the type of environment and values that we wanted him to be surrounded with. We decided on a small town, Fair Grove for him to complete all 13 years of school at. It was a nice town and good values and was small enough that we would get to know his friends well. As he started school he continued his interest in baseball and we entered him in the schools baseball team during the summer. We soon found that it was good to keep him active and a positive thing for him and his friends to participate in. We eventually started teaching him to be competitive to perform his best and along with that taught him the value and importance of always giving 100% towards anything that you choose to do in life. We allowed him to play several different sports throughout his school years. As life progressed forward, he eventually decided to narrow his interests and focus on baseball only. We continued to talk to him about what it would take if he chose to continue to play baseball through college but always stressing that he could not rely on baseball to get him through life and that it was just something to keep him focused and a positive thing for him to participate in throughout life.
His senior year he finally decided that he didn't want to play baseball in college and instead wanted to focus on his academics and wanted to go to the University of Missouri with one of his friends and become a chemical engineer. We tried to get him to go to Rolla S&T and play baseball but he lost confidence when they said he wasn't quite to that level and so insisted on not playing baseball and going to a big school. Throughout the year, we learned to accept this and finally became excited for him and all that life had in store for him.
A couple of weeks ago, someone thought that someone from Evangel University here in Springfield was there to watch Damein play baseball. He got excited and decided that he had another friend that was going there who was going to play baseball and so he wanted to check into it. He called and talked to the coach and the coach didn't act like he had heard of Damein but was positive and told Damein to keep in contact and he would see about meeting with him and seeing if he could place him on their team. Damein has now grown excited about the possibility of going to college and getting to play baseball as well. He has re-evaluated his academics and I think has decided on Computer Science and Chemistry degrees. Evangel is a Private Christian College with very good academics and seems as though it would be a better fit for Damein. We like the fact that it is small, close to home, Christian faith based and we would get to watch him play baseball as he would be close to home.
Damein filled out the application today, wrote his essay, sent off his references, paid his application fee, received his high school baseball stats, had his transcripts and ACT scores forwarded to Evangel. I still need to call FAFSA and get Evangel's school code added and get his MSU dual college credit transcript sent but other than that Damein will meet with the coach later in the week and see what the coach has to say.
If Damein is able to play baseball there and receive some money for that then he will attend Evangel. If he is unable to play baseball then I am guessing he will continue with his plans to MU.
Options are always nice to have and it helps when you are open to change. I love that my son has learned that he is control of his life and that it is okay to change and never too late. We are rushing around but have managed to get everything in order over the past few days with graduation week and everything. I continue to pray now for God to open doors where they need to be opened and slam shut doors that need to be shut so that Damein can continue to live in God's will for his life. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for him as I know he will be successful no matter what as long as God is in control.
Darein is doing a great job as always with her back brace. The heat is going to get to her more than anything I think this summer. We go back in June to St. Louis and see if there has been any improvement or not in her scoliosis. She notices that when she doesn't have it on that she tends to slouch more and her posture isn't as good. She will also see her pediatrician in June to review her ultrasound tests that she had and see if any further testing needs to be done before she sees her GI doctor towards the end of June. We will also talk about insoles or orthopedic shoes to help with her flat feet. I will also try to get her in to see her ENT doctor for a hearing test as her hearing is decreased. When we go to St. Louis to see her orthopedic surgeon she will also turn in some various labs to her geneticist for research. He will then send her labs overseas to the UK for the research to be done. June will be a busy month with lots of doctor appointments and getting Damein ready for college. I will be trying to enjoy my summer with Damein before he heads off to college and working on making the adjustment. He has grown up with such an incredible class of young people. I feel very fortunate that his class as well as my daughter's class both have many good qualities of character!! Character seems to be lacking so much these days from young kids and I am thrilled that there are kids that my kids are associated with that have not lost that quality of the importance of having good character.