Every man has a bit of a little boy.
Today is our firstborn’s birthday. Happy Birthday, John! I looked back at the first time I wrote a blog post for February 24. It was in 2014 and we had just celebrated John’s birthday during a Notgrass History retreat.
Familiarity is one of the blessings of family life. Looking at those two words—familiarity and family—I guess they must have the same root word. If I knew Greek or Latin, I could tell you more, but I don’t.
As we celebrated our mature, godly son’s thirty-five years that year, . . .
. . . Ray and I smiled when we saw the little boy we knew long ago peek through sometimes.
John is our able CFO, but when the meetings got long at that retreat, and we had sat in one spot for too long, he got into the kinds of strange positions we’ve seen before.
I decided to be really silly with our celebration, so we had a pinata. When your name is John Notgrass and you get a slinky out of the pinata loot, this is what you do with it.
On our way to Sunday lunch, we took a hike on the Cumberland Trail. When John took off as leader of the pack, Ray pointed it out to me and we both agreed, “Yep! That’s where John always was when the family took a hike.”
As Ray and I walked along, we heard a, “Hey, Mom and Dad!” We looked around and found John high above on a boulder. The arrow points out John.
Here’s a zoom shot. Now, why did I think of that time he went to the top of our very tall holly tree when he was five years old?
As you watch your own little boy grow up faster than you wish he would, don’t worry too much. Every man has a bit of a little boy still in him. We’re glad John does. Happy Birthday, John! It was fun hanging out with you before, during, and after this year’s retreat, too.
A wise son makes a father glad.
Proverbs 15:20
It’s easy to see how John makes you glad! Now I know John better too.