![](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/715\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-e4c4wtvOZZQ\/UIHWhlwx0II\/AAAAAAAACJg\/oE9_9ZeMsPQ\/s400\/Charlie+Birthday+17.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\nHappy Birthday to our oldest! \u00a0It\u2019s been\u00a0toughest\u00a0on him. \u00a0In truth, it was he who was thrown topsy-turvey more than any of our boys. \u00a0We were snug in a private school where his Mom was a teacher, and he attended the church where his Dad was pastor. \u00a0Being the son of a pastor in a private Christian school, he had reputation already handed to him. \u00a0He was a good student. \u00a0He was well liked. \u00a0All was right with the world. \u00a0And then BAM! \u00a0We entered the Catholic Church. <\/p>\n
When him Mom\u2019s school found out, she was unceremoniously dumped. \u00a0Suddenly our two\u00a0older\u00a0boys were back in the public school system. \u00a0Our 8th Grader wasn\u2019t hurt as badly, he was only in 1st Grade. \u00a0But a tremendous amount of schooling and social development was missed by our oldest. \u00a0And for the next, oh about seven years, he has had to struggled to make up for what was lost. \u00a0Truth be told, he\u2019s the one who has noticed the dividing line between good life\/bad life and\u00a0becoming\u00a0Catholic. \u00a0We pray daily that his faith withstands, and pray even more that somehow our material redemption might come from the Church somehow, so we can point and tell him we weren\u2019t forgotten.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, despite it all, he is a good student, a faithful child, and a great young man. \u00a0He has\u00a0hovered\u00a0around As or Bs in most cases, sometimes all As, but sometimes the missed years outside the public school system forced him to play catch up. \u00a0Naturally shy and quiet, he never quite made it back into the social mainstream that he enjoyed as a pastor\u2019s son. \u00a0Through it all, however, he\u2019s made us proud. \u00a0He\u2019s a fighter. \u00a0Even when he flounders, he gets back up and tries again, and as often as not, he improves. \u00a0He\u2019s come a long way, but today, I just want to say Happy Birthday son, you make us proud!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Happy Birthday to our oldest! \u00a0It\u2019s been\u00a0toughest\u00a0on him. \u00a0In truth, it was he who was thrown topsy-turvey more than any of our boys. \u00a0We were snug in a private school where his Mom was a teacher, and he attended the church where his Dad was pastor. \u00a0Being the son of a pastor in a private […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/div>\n