Kathy,

Praying for both the boys.  It's good that God's helping you let them work 
out their lives in various ways.  They will both be better for it.

Enjoy your honeymoon!



JulieMelton
visit me at
www.heart-and-music.com
Keep smiling!





>From: Kathy Du Bois <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Electronic Church <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Please pray for Matt
>Date: Fri, 5 May 2006 08:26:17 -0400
>
>Hi guys,
>	Well, I'm headed to Portland today for a honey moon with my sweety.  It's 
>nine hours and counting.  I can't wait.  Unfortunately,  The situation is a 
>bit concerning because Matt had a small car accident last night and we're 
>kind of leaving him to have to work things out.  I have little clue what to 
>do and Greg has to give directions by phone so this will definitely be a 
>maturing experience for Matt, to say the least.  Matt is fine.  The car 
>appears to have sustained only front end damage.  Who knows what this will 
>do to our car insurance.  Greg has called a member of the congregation to 
>go with Matt to look at the car and decide what to do from there.  Right 
>now, it is in the parking lot where Matt works.  He feels aweful, but like 
>I told him, I'm just glad he's okay.  He's irreplaceable.
>	What I'm really praising God for is how well both Greg and I stayed calm 
>through the whole thing and got our priorities correct in putting our son's 
>life above the car.  I think that, earlier, we would have been a little 
>more judgmental, but having gone through what we have been through with 
>Chris has really helped us to see more clearly what is important and what 
>is unimportant.
>	By the way, I had a nice long talk with Chris again this week.  He is 
>really itching to get together with us, but I had to put him off because of 
>scheduling and so forth.  This was good because he sees very clearly that 
>we are treating him as an adult and not just clinging to him and connecting 
>with him on his terms.  He did go down and take is pre-test for  preparing 
>for his G.E.D. studies.  He's wishing that he could get out of his 
>relationship with Nicki, but he is afraid that she will kill herself if he 
>breaks it off.  He is feeling resigned to his fate of having to marry her 
>because they've had sex, and I was able to talk with him about God's 
>forgiveness and Grace and how God is the God of second chances.  I talked 
>about him taking the time to find himself and do some deep soul searching 
>and he was kind of shocked.  He asked me if I had been talking to his last 
>therapist.  I assured him that I had not, but he was amazed that, without 
>collusion, we had both been saying the same things.  He seems to be really 
>thinking now.  I think that he is regreting some of his choices.  He said 
>that if it hadn't been for Nicki, he'd probably still be home and in school 
>and driving and more on track.  This helped confirm for me, however, a 
>decision that Greg and I had already made that we will probably not let him 
>come home, even if he asks.  At a distance, Chris treats us with respect, 
>and we do better at keeping our opinions to ourselves.  It is very hard not 
>to slip back into the parent child relationship when an adult child moves 
>back home for a season.  We've seen that in our relationship with Matt.  
>Old patterns are very hard to break.  While I'll miss Matt, I'm glad that 
>he's moving back to Michigan this June.  It is good for both boys to 
>continue to strive for independence and adulthood.
>	Well guys, I'm off for a wonderful weekend.  Please just pray for safety 
>for all of us.
>God's peace to you all!
>Kathy
>