Lead me, with strong hands...

We riding in the car the other day, and this really pretty song played on the radio in the car, and when it ended, Matthew said:
“That’s really an amazing song. It’s about this guy who looks at a picture of his wife, and hears what she is thinking inside.

Then he looks outside at his children playing in the yard, and hears what THEY too are thinking inside.

They want him to help them be strong, inside and out. They were thinking (and he began to sing): 'Lead me with strong hands, stand up when I can’t. Don’t leave me hungry for love chasing dreams.' ” WOW….. too cool.


Then, a few days later, we had this funny (well, funny NOW - not at the time) exchange. The ending realization (completely from him) was the best part: “I really won’t do that again. After all, sticking out your tongue is much worse than making a simple mistake, because sticking out your tongue is disrespectful.” This was part of our discussion in the car after karate tonight. Here’s the background: Matthew made a mistake on something he really does know how to do (so it frustrated him), and the sensai was separating the mistakes from the rest of the group. SO, Matthew was appalled when Sensai told him to move to the other group. Matthew finally did move, and then stuck his tongue out in silent protest. I could have died… I looked at him and mouthed with the mommy look “DON’T”… “You DID mess up, right?!” He pulled it together and kept on keeping on. When the other sensai said he passed and could rejoin the original group, he held up his hands in victory. J All was good, and then with about five minutes left in class, Matthew’s hand shot up. I got his attention and told him to wait (I figured he had to go to the bathroom and it was NOT the time). A few minutes later it shot up again, and AGAIN got his attention. Finally, at dismissal, he ran straight to Uchita Sensai (the main dude… the DAD… the one he stuck his tongue out at) and said “I’m sorry.” I almost fell off my bench! How cool!!!