Happy Birthday, David!

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:4-6 ESV).

Today I’m exercising writer’s privilege in diverting my attention away from the series through Lent to focus on my son’s birthday. David is 41 today. It hardly seems possible that four decades have passed from that time when I got the call from Mary that her contractions were four minutes apart and we needed to go to the hospital which happened to be thirty minutes away! That was indeed an exciting beginning! Though, as has been true with all of my sons, their lives have been exciting to me at every turn. The picture I have chosen to accompany today’s thoughts was taken a few months ago. David had gone out to the small lake near his home with his oldest daughter, Maggie. As you can see they caught a nice bass! It brought back lots of memories from the times I took him with me on some little expedition to hunt or fish. But, my purpose is not nostalgic today. Larry Howland has written a popular bit of verse that seems to be perfect here: I sometimes wish you were still small, Not yet so big and strong and tall. For when I think of yesterday, I close my eyes and see you play. I often miss that little boy Who pestered me to buy a toy, Who filled my days with pure delight From early morn to late at night. We watch our children change and grow As seasons come, then quickly go. But our God has a perfect plan To shape a boy into a man. Today, my son, I'm proud of you For all the thoughtful things you do. I'll love you till my days are done, And I'm so grateful you're my son. I am quite sure I did not do everything right. My hope is that through all of the experiences of our lives I was able to teach all my sons these two unalterable truths: God is always enough; and, family is everything! As with Kyle and Aaron, David seems to have gotten that message! Happy Birthday, David!