Now I Get To...

Owen turned eighteen recently, which has delighted him no end because of all of the things he "gets" to do now. His friends made a list and decorated his locker with it. Among the exciting new options he has he can now:

Buy dry ice
Buy spray paint
Vote
Check himself in and out of school

There are a few more weighty "opportunities:"

Go to jail
Be automatically registered with the U.S. Selective Service so he can get drafted into the military
Change his name
Go on a mission

While Owen is thrilled with being 18, Evan was less enthusiastic. He walked around moaning about Owen growing older and being that much closer to leaving home. I have to confess that I reach this milestone with Owen with very mixed feelings too. This was probably his last birthday at home. This time next year he will be in the mission field, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with people. He'll be graduating from high school in June.

Despite the little hole in my heart that is only going to get bigger as he gets closer to leaving, I am so excited to see what he does with his life and I worry if I have done everything I could to prepare him for that. Have we given him enough opportunities to develop his talents? Have we taught him as much as we could about spiritual things to help him be able to find his way? Have we had enough work together so he knows about working hard and sticking with something unpleasant just because it must be done? While I hope so, and hope for many other things, I know there actually is no way we COULD do all of that. I'm sure there are gaps in what we have taught him and helped him experience, but now it is his opportunity to fill those in himself and discover many things for himself.

It's his turn.

Owen shows off his new electric razor. There are no more excuses about why he can't shave. A bonus he discovered is the razor collects up the bristles. No more clogging the bathroom sink. 

I just had to put this one on here. We're Mr. Bean fans, and if you've ever seen the episode where he is late to the dentist, you'll recognize this:

Thanks for being a good sport Owen!