Words of Wisdom

This week I had the opportunity to spend some time with Ryan one-on-one. I love the age he is at right now. He opens up to me and we can talk for hours. He asks thought provoking questions and has some really great insight. Sometimes my heart wants to break at the topic. Every day I ask him for his words of wisdom. A lot of time he tells me something silly, but every once in a while I get some real gems. So as to document our lives, I wanted to jot down a few things he's taught me, as well as a few things he's talked with me about recently.

Ryan had an assignment to memorize a poem for his English class. He could choose any poem he wanted to and my heart died a bit when he sent his choice to me.

In the Event of my Demise

By Tupac Shakur

In the event of my Demise
when my heart can beat no more
I Hope I Die For A Principle
or A Belief that I had Lived 4
I will die Before My Time
Because I feel the shadow's Depth
so much I wanted 2 accomplish
before I reached my Death
I have come 2 grips with the possibility
and wiped the last tear from My eyes
I Loved All who were Positive
In the event of my Demise 

Yesterday when he got in the car he told me that they had a great discussion in English. The teacher is asking thought provoking questions and the topic yesterday was 'Doctor-assisted suicide'. As we were pulling into the driveway, his voice began to crack and he told me that a girl in his class tried to make the argument that doctor-assisted suicide was absolutely ethical. He turned to me and said "Why would someone do that? Mom, I'm faced with death and all I want to do is live!" Oh my heart!

And finally, I was pressing him about his belief in God and in Jesus Christ. I said to him "Ry, what if Jesus was just a nice guy. Maybe He just did some good things. Perhaps He wasn't who they say He was." He turned to me and said "Mom, Jesus is the only one that has been able to command His own death. People who were crucified died of dehydration. Jesus, after his mission was through, commanded that He return to His Heavenly Father. Only a God could do something like that." I sat in silence. I could not refute that. Here, my 14-year old son taught me. I love his words of wisdom.