Kathy,

I'm praying for you and for all your family.

Many lovings and squeezings for you and Greg.

Love and Blessings,
Pat Ferguson



At 01:36 PM 8/23/04, you wrote:
>Thank you Vinny for asking.  God has been gracious to our family by
>helping us to keep Chris busy this summer and that has reduced the strain
>on our family a great deal.  In June, he landed a job at a convenience
>store, doing odd jobs for the owner and that takes up about 25 hours a
>week.  He took one summer school class in July, that he had to pay for
>and that kept him busy in the mornings for a time as well.  He started
>out doing really well, but as soon as he was pretty sure that he would
>pass the class he started lapsing into old patterns of laziness and ended
>up passing with a D.  Of course, we, his parents, were disappointed since
>Chris had demonstrated that he was capable of doing much better, but
>we're learning the hard way that you can't make a child care, no matter
>how wise that would be.  He continues to have angry outbursts, but they
>are much less frequent and much more controlled so I guess that that is a
>big step forward.  I still seem to be the main person that he flares up
>at, but then, we can also hug and I've told him that as long as we can do
>that, we'll get through the rest.  Chris agrees.
>         Chris has earned enough money to pay for drivers Ed. and he will
>begin that this Wednesday.  He wants to keep his job.  Money is more
>important than academics right now and we're considering just letting him
>roll with it rather than fight him on it.  He knows what is more
>important really, but he doesn't want to do the right thing so we're
>thinking of taking Dr. Kevin Leman's advice and let Chris learn through
>natural consequences of his choices.  It might sound kind of wimpy on our
>part, but some day, he's going to wake up and regret chasing the wrong
>things.  We all do eventually, especially if God's hand is upon our
>lives, and I believe firmly that, whether Chris knows it or not, he is
>firmly held in God's grasp.  I trust that God knows what He is doing.
>         Perhaps the hardest time for me this summer with Chris is when my
>oldest son, Matt, left for college.  Matt left Maine for Michigan the
>first of August to look for work before school starts.  I had a real hard
>time with his leaving, but harder still was chris's attitude of being
>thrilled to finally have a room to himself and he just started pitching
>out Matt's stuff and I had to go through it and try to salvage it before
>it got lost or damaged.  Chris was in the type of mood where, if I cried
>he would have blown up and I really had to hold it together to make it
>through.  Of course, knowing that Matt still hasn't found work has been
>real agony for me because I know how hard he's trying and Chris seems to
>be totally oblivious to his older brother's struggles.  Chris could be
>bluffing.  He does try to be the tough guy, but I just find the bluster
>hard to handle at times.
>         Well Vinny, I guess that that catches you up on chris.  Again,
>thanks for asking, and for praying.  I really appreciate it very much!
>Kathy
>
>________________________________________________________________
>The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
>Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
>Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!