It is difficult for me to relate to what it would be like to grow up as an only child. Because I wasn't one. We won't go into what I was (at least not here) because that isn't the point of this post. In any event, though, I was not an only child.

But our son is. Lisa was not an only child either so no correlation there either.

I think Evan enjoys being an only child. Does that mean he is spoiled by always being able to get mom or dad's attention? Yeah, it does.

But it also means that his thought processes and maturity level are more those of an adult than a 10-year-old. He has spent most of his time with adults. And, while particularly as he ages we more and more see that he likes hanging out with his friends, and sort of craves that, an end result of his being an only child is that, despite being on the shy side, he handles himself pretty maturely most of the time.

We ran into his teacher Friday evening and she told us that they had had sort of a rough day in class that day. "Oh?" we asked. We had not heard anything about this yet (despite the maturity of our son.)

She went on to explain that one of the students had been chunking pieces of eraser at other kids during class. Because she was not sure who had been doing it (well, I suspect she was pretty sure) she asked for the offending student to identify his or herself. No one stood up and admitted it.

So, she decided the class would sit in silence until someone admitted to it. For 50 minutes, they sat in silence.

This had to have driven our son nuts. Apparently a couple of kids said they were thinking about admitting guilt despite their innocence, just so the "torture" would stop.

But it was what our normally pretty quiet son -- more of a follower usually than a leader -- did that surprised me. At one point, he suggested to the teacher that they all pray about it and pray that the guilty student would admit their offense. And then he led them in prayer.

Again, Evan is not typically a leader but, in a Christian education environment, he is learning to hear God's voice and to be a spiritual leader. I was both impressed and surprised by his behavior. But that is the way God works through those who are attuned to Him.

I am truly blessed.