Climbing Castles & Conquering Fears

I got an e-mail from Matthew's teacher this afternoon. Today the class went on a field trip to Shangri La in Orange Texas, and then to Lions Club Park for a picnic. She shared with me that while at the park, Matthew climbed to the top of the castle. With all of his anxieties about new situations, and fear of heights....going up there is a pretty big deal. She said he yelled the whole way, but he wanted to climb it , and he did. He was quite proud of himself. I've noticed this quite a bit with Matthew lately. He battles with the desire to try new things...and the fear that generally stops him. This made me think about our trip to the S.E. Texas State Fair. He walked around all day with Randy and I ...while his brother and sister rode some of the rides. He watched them, and I could see that he wanted to...but each time we asked him he answered... "NO!" That is until he watched them ride the bumper cars. He took some tickets from my bag, grabbed his dads hand, and pointed at the cars. I asked him if he wanted to ride and this time his answer was YES! So there he stood in line with his dad. The longer they waited, the more nervous he became. When their turn came up, he began to scream. Randy looked back at me...he was not sure whether to go forward or to help him away from the cars. But Matthew continued to walk forward. He screamed until they were both sitting in the same bumper car and for a few seconds after the car began to move. Eventually he relaxed and enjoyed himself. When the ride was over...he was beside himself with pride.