This week our church had a men’s emphasis week. On Thursday,
we had a men’s event with a speaker who encouraged men not to try to do it
alone because Satan is out there like a roaring lion seeing whom he can
devourer. Then today, Saturday, one of the core men’s groups had a father/son mission’s
trip.
Kaleb turned 11 in December, however, he is a big
boy and he looks older than he is. I thought he was too young to go to the
men’s event. I do let him come to the men’s Bible study I lead, but a lot of that
is because he is very helpful, he likes to study the Bible, he makes the
muffins every week for the men, and plays host by getting the men’s coffee.
However, I am not in charge of the men’s event so could not give that privilege
to him.
Kaleb asked early Sunday morning if he could come
Thursday and I had told him no, it was just for men. After the sermon, there
was a video advertising the men’s event. When Kaleb saw the video, he begged to
come. I said no. Without missing a beat he said, “I will make muffins”. I told
him that would be like 400 or 500 muffins just so everybody could get one. His
gave the classic kid’s answer, “So.” You also have to realize that this is all
going on during announcements and it was all I could do to keep from bursting
out laughing.
Kaleb then asks, “Can I ask him?” pointing to Gil
Harris, the man in charge of the men’s event. I said sure. He was bound and
determined that he wanted to go and I saw that he was not going to take “no”
from me. About this time, they asked us to stand for prayer. Kaleb got up, turned
around so he could put his foot on the stage front like a starting block, and
as soon as they said “Amen” Kaleb sprinted to Gil. I was concerned for Gil,
because as I said Kaleb is a big boy and once you get him started it is hard to
stop him.
Well, Gil obviously said yes, in fact, he said, “I
better see you there.” After Kaleb told me that he could go he also whispered, “And
I did not have to say anything about making muffins.” I had to laugh then.
On the way to the men’s event I told Kaleb about a
blog I read from our Missions Pastor about how they were going to have a father
and son mission’s trip. He was pretty excited, which to be honest, was what I
had hoped. I had taken my older kids to Mexico when they were a little bit old
then he is now and it was a real life changing experience for them. Therefore,
Kaleb and I decided that if we saw Omar (our Missions Pastor) we would talk to
him about it. Well, before the meeting, we saw Omar and talked to him about it
and he invited us to come along and join him.
We enjoyed the men’s event, there were great videos,
and the speaker was a retired Marine who spoke about a band of brothers and
always having someone to have your back. The speaker gave out cards with a big 6
on the front and on the back, it said I have blank’s 6 and blank has my 6. When
we got to the van that night, I talked with Kaleb and we agreed that we would
have each other’s 6 and signed the cards. I am planning to get them
framed.
Today we just got back from the mission trip we went
to a halfway house ran by a church called Manna House. First, I have to tell
you I got Kaleb up early and he was exited and wanted to go, this does not
always happen in the early morning. We got there and started right in digging
some ditches for water lines so they could irrigate their gardens. The rest of
the day, we spent taking a big sand pile and using it to fill low spots on the
grounds so later it can be used for more gardens or buildings. It sounds pretty
mundane, but it was hard work and I am sore as I am writing this. Kaleb worked
hard and tried to do everything; he even pushed the wheel barrel once even
though he was the youngest son there (this is funny, you ask him to clean his
room and nothing happens). However, Kaleb was upbeat and excited the whole
time. We then had a service with the men from the house. This was nice. A
couple of men told their testimony about how they got into drugs, got to a low
point, and found Jesus and how they were trying to straighten out their lives.
We also went out to eat with the men from the house and ate more Pizza (twice
in 3 days is a little much for me).
On the way home Kaleb was all excited. He said, “I have
now been on my first Father/Son Missions trip and it was cool.” He was also
planning. He was saying, “We need to go back like every month and fill in more
and then they could have a baseball diamond.” (I guess I should have mentioned
that Kaleb is really into baseball and especially the Astros).
I say all of this to show that my little boy is
becoming a man. You can see he is still a boy because of some of his actions
and the things he says; but by Kaleb wanting to be identified with men and wanting
to be around men, it shows me he will very soon be a man. I am losing my baby
but I am gaining a man.
