Rejection is not my friend

My older son, Brian, is the ultimate sports fanatic.  He loves most sports, keeps up with all the teams in most leagues and knows statistics and trivia like most people know their address and phone numbers.  He is also a hometown boy, loyal and true to his hometown teams, which for him means the Baltimore Orioles, the Baltimore Ravens and the Maryland Terrapins.  His wardrobe is almost exclusively that of either his high school team or his state's teams.  His ambition is to be a sports broadcaster and journalist.  His dream...to go to the University of Maryland and be a true Terrapin fan. 

As the years have gone by, Brian has always expressed his desire to go to Maryland.  It is, however, one of the tougher schools to get into.  Brian is a straight A student at Archbishop Spalding, but his SAT scores were not great.  He is athletic, but not of a caliber to compete at the college level due to his small stature.  We knew all along that Maryland gets somewhere in the area of 25,000 freshman applications and takes only around 6000.  We knew that they are a big SAT score school.  We knew the odds were stacked against him for those reasons, but we also knew that our boy wanted this in a big way and, for the most part, he has gotten what he has desired.

Last night the emails came out and my sweet, deserving, athletic, handsome, intelligent son still did not make the cut.  How dare they!  He was angry and hurt, resentful of those who did get in that he felt didn't work as hard as he does.  He stated his days as a fan were over,  He was turning his sights to his second school...Towson University.  His dad and I were heartbroken that our son was feeling so rejected.  We reacted differently, my husband lashing out and angry while I played the mediator and devils advocate, trying to urge my son to look forward and to remember that he was still all those wonderful things that he was minutes before, but when the die were cast, he came up short.  Rejection happens in the real world.  And rejection hurts.  Bad.  I tried hard to put a positive spin on things because I truly believe that his second choice school will be a much better fit for him, but if I had anything to do with the choice I would still have chosen what he wanted in his heart.

So today he had a hard time getting up and going.  He wanted to stay home from school, but did not.  At school there was a meeting of other kids that also didn't get their first choice of school.  They all talked about how they felt and my boy came home a stronger, more resilient man.  I miss the days when I could kiss his hurts and make them all go away.  I want to hug him close and call that stupid school and tell them that they have no idea what they are missing.  I want to rant and rave and tell them that it is their loss.  This young man is like no other.  You messed up, big time!!  But of course, I do not.  I hug him and hold him close for the few seconds he will allow.  I tell him I love him and that he will survive.  I remind him that God has three answers to our prayers:  Yes.  Not Now.  No, I have something better planned.  God has seen this boy through so much.  He was thrust into this world twelve weeks early and he fought to survive.  He was always the littlest kid on every team, but with the biggest heart.  He was always described as the "scrappy" kid.  Today, he is still scrappy.  He will fight his way through this.  Where ever he goes I know that he will shine.  Life is full of rejection.  It is full of things that hurt and disappoint.  Life is also a beautiful place full of wonder and love.  It is full of acceptance and encouragement.  Brian has alot of people on his side and he knows that he is loved above all else.  He will make the right choices and he will make the very best of what God has chosen for him.  I am so proud of him.  He is and has always been a winner.  That's my boy!