It was a moment. Really, it was a flashback! There for a minute the world stopped spinning and I was taken back in time.

I was driving through the neighborhood this afternoon when out of the corner of my eye I saw two young boys, maybe 10 years old, playing football. They were cute as a button and so engrossed in the game.

Instantly, my mind flashed back to Blake. It was as if I was watching him play outside our house. Tears welled up as I caught a lump in my throat.

Our house used to be the house where every boy came to play football, rollerblade and eventually skateboard. I remember all the boys that came to help build the half-pipe that takes up our backyard. I remember vividly all the black paint that was tracked through our living room during that project.

Every now and then I get a glimpse that time is marching on and Blake is growing into a man. Now all the boys come to visit in trucks and playing football in the front yard doesn’t seem so cool. Yes, they are certainly growing up.

Please pray for Blake and 20 others that left Monday for mission work in Mexico. It was hard for this mom to let go, to let him enter a foreign country with no parent, and let him minister in Mexico. Will he come back changed? I bet so.

No one is playing football in our front yard tonight, but I pray Blake and the others are playing with the children at the orphanage in Mexico.

God is so amazing!