Charmed Childhood

These are his people:  siblings, cousins, friends

Charmed childhood. That's how I would describe Wenxin's life these days.

The words first came to mind at our church picnic. Sunlight sparkled through the trees as a gentle wind sent tiny shimmering leaves swirling through the air like confetti at a ticker tape parade. All afternoon, I watched Wenxin in amazement. These were his people. This was his church. As we spread our blankets on the ground and got in line for food, he was off to play corn hole with friends, confident and carefree.  He asked if he could have Coke in a can with his hot dog, and to my surprise, Mike said, "Sure." After lunch, Wenxin got in the dunking machine line over and over again until finally he threw that softball, hit the target dead center, and dunked the pastor.

Charmed childhood. I thought about those words again on Saturday as Wenxin scored his first soccer goal ever. It was a beautiful shot that sailed right past the goalie. I screamed myself hoarse while he ran back to the center of the field, high-fiving his teammates. These were his people. This was his team. Later that day, he played in a second game and scored again. We celebrated with the ridiculously high-priced snow cones that some really smart person sells at the soccer fields.

I love the joy I see on Wenxin's face these days, but sometimes I still second guess myself.

Does that fact that he seems to be enjoying a charmed childhood mean I'm sheltering him too much? Besides church and soccer, his everyday world is very small.. He goes to school at home with his mom for his teacher and his siblings for classmates. He doesn't have to stress over tests, or homework, or bullies. One of his parents is almost always nearby.

But then I remember that although his chronological age is ten years old, he's only two and a half years old in our family. Protecting him and keeping him close is appropriate for that age. Allowing him to enjoy the innocence and wonder of childhood makes total sense to me.

He had a lot of losses early on, so I'm glad we're able to protect this part of his journey.

It's a lot of fun to watch.

Shared at We Are Grafted In.