Mighty of spirit

Our little man Brahm blasted through all the stereotypes,

 and statements anyone ever made of his tiny little self.

Our 32 POUND

Six year old

WON ~ 4th in the Colorado state wrestling competition Saturday

and WON ~ 2nd in the rookie division!!

Dude had some fierce competition - 

wrestling a full bracket of kids

 6 years or younger and under 37 lbs!

Little studmuffin weighing in at a whopping 32 lbs

Loving his huge 4th place trophy!

We were there for 2 days - it was ridiculously long

Waiting for their turn

Brahm has the headgear on top!

Big brother coaching him!

Losing was hard but little man fought against kids 37 

and even heavier on Sunday as that weight level was increased to 39 lbs. 

 He did cry but it was a great lesson for him too.

I was proud he even went out against much heavier kids and did his best!

And I am most proud of this ~ our community.  

Because who really cares if a scrawny little six year old wins or not?

I look in this crowd and see face after face of our village cheering on our little man (and holding Tao LOL).  They cheered, high fived and made him feel like a true champion.

I don't know how long he will be able to wrestle,

or even walk.

But I know that this picture will be one I pull out in the years to come and show him,

HIS village cares and loves him, 

FOR HIS HEART!

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And this one ~

Besides carrying Brahm, and coaching him, (and eating all our food LOL)

He had his time to shine ~

No headgear with green shoes

He did NOT place, coming in 7th 

BUT

He fought HARD!

He went toe to with his mental nemesis

AND

He finally learned to lose with grace.

I couldn't be prouder for both my boys,

and my littles who joined us,

and the ones who stayed home, 

AND Cav who came for Sunday and did NOT freak out in the crowd!

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

BRave

I have shared many times how I mourned for the loss of my 'perfect' baby when Brahm was born.  All of my hopes and dreams for this child I carried simply vanished when we were told in those hours before his birth that he would have a disability.  

What I did NOT realize was how filled our lives would be.

Unlike our two older children who we push for the next goal, ensuring that they are in the right sports at the right age, get proper training, practice and the thousand other stressers that come with everyday youth athletics.  We have learned to cherish every single game, every single goal and every single attempt our mini marvel has - because it may jsut very well be his last.

Of course I feel the tinge of pain in my heart - one season of lacrosse and he is retiring - so hard to hear these words - "Mom, it jsut hurts my legs to much" he says in his high pitched 6 year old voice with the missing teeth lisp.

But such great joy was also experienced this weekend when he entered his first wrestling tournament.  

Now let me give you an idea of the environment our little guy is surrounded by.  We are fortunate that our school is a huge K-12.  The wrestling coach for the middle and high school offers a clinic twice a year for the elementary school kids.  THis is what ignited Brahm's fire.  

When I emailed the coach about letting Brahm try to wrestle this weekend and feeling the clock ticking on his physical ability to ever do so - he went above and beyond - making sure that the tournament director knew Brahm was tiny (33 lbs at 6) and short.

He also found Brahm a tiny little singlet to wear.  The coach sent his biggest high school wrestler (atleast 6'3" ) down to the 1st grade class to give Brahm the singlet, tell him how we could make it smaller AND pump him up.  Apparently, Brahm's status in the class also was raised because he knew one of the big guys LOL!

Little man's teacher even asked to come to the tournament - I really never thought an entire community would surround our son and love him like they do.

Oh he was pumped, and nervous for the tournament.  I - was jsut nervous.  I would prefer to keep my angel in a padded box but that isn't what God wants for this boy of ours.  So I put my brave face on and cheered.

We weren't sure how he would do, but we knew it would be fabulous or a disaster.  Although Brahm's body lets him down, his mind does not.  We could see that little stinker playing chess as he pinned each opponent.  After his final victory, our champion, danced around in joy.  We thought for sure he would come in second to this particular child but Brahm pinned him in the last few seconds.

His family rejoicing with him.  He knows the feeling of personal success.  We have no idea how long he will wrestle for before once again his body fails him.  But for today, this week he is our champion.  He has a larger than life trophy to remind him the sweetness of victory.  He is truly our inspiration.

 Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.

                                                                   2 Samuel 17:10

Small but mighty!

I so often get questions about having a child with dwarfism.  AS our little man gets older we encounter different issues.  THis is the really the first year that we now are seeing a significant difference in size.  Of course little man is my sports kid.  He lives through sports, and due to his progressively deteriorating joints we never know when he will "peak" but we do know it will be young.  So despite the recommendations from his doctors to limit his sports, I also have to weigh that against his heart.  DO we crush his spirit or give him the glory of playing for a few years atleast.  This has by far been the hardest part of this journey.

Oh why could little man not have been born with a love for sitting quietly and drawing!

But when I see these pictures I know that we have made the right decision.  He may miss playing sports later in life but atleast he will have had the opportunity to shine.