Happy Birthday Batman!

It happened five years ago this morning.

I knew it was coming, but I wasn’t quite prepared for it.

Five years ago today my boy was born.

My buddy.

As I was driving to work, I allowed my mind to travel back to that delivery room at Clear Lake Regional Hospital. Like Marty McFly – but without the DeLorean – I was transported back in time. I will never forget that day. I couldn’t have been more proud.

I was a new dad. I had no idea what I was doing. That first night he stayed in the room with us and, since my wife was exhausted from delivery and still affected by the medication and epidural, she was knocked out and I was commissioned with his care.

Sometime in the night he began to cry. I nervously picked him up – he was so small – and slowly sat down in a rocking chair taking great care not to break him. As I rocked him and talked to him, I tried to think of a lullaby song that might sooth this crying child.

I didn’t know any.

So I sang the first thing that came to my mind. “Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale. A tale of a fateful trip. That started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship….”

Hey, give me a break it was all I could think of in a hurry. :)

Now it wasn’t my intention to introduce my son to his daddy’s mad lullaby skills with the theme song from Gilligan’s Island, but hey it’s what happened. Nevertheless, it didn’t work. I finally hit the button and called in reinforcements.

“Help! I can’t stop this kid from crying!”

“Have you tried feeding him?”

“What?”

It never dawned on me that the kid could be hungry. I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t even consider the possibility. Moments later my savior arrived in scrubs carrying a 4 oz bottle of formula. She worked her magic and Carson fell back asleep.

I smiled as I recalled that night. It wasn’t all that long ago, yet it seems forever. Five years later he is one of the craziest kids I know. He is always making us laugh with his off the wall comments, and he is always astounding us with his wit.

Five years old and he is reading.

Five years old and he is into Batman.

Five years old and he knows 135 scriptures from the book of Luke.

Five years old and he has won medals and first place ribbons in Bible Quizzing.

The other day he crawled into my lap and I patted him on the leg like I always do. He told me, “I knew you were going to do that dad. You’re so predictable.”

Predictable!

I asked him, “Do you even know what that means?” He said, “No, but it’s what you are.”

The boy is a nut case. I couldn’t ask for a better buddy.

As I recalled those moments this morning my mind wandered to my own father, and then to my heavenly father.

I would do anything for my son. My dad would do anything for me. It reminded me of the scripture passage in Matthew 7:11.

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

The way I felt when I held my boy for the first time that morning must be how God feels when we first receive the Holy Ghost. The way I felt Sunday when Carson crawled into my lap must be how God feels when we kneel to pray.

Other religions in this world have gods.

How awesome it is to know we have a father!

To the Lord I say: Thank you God for being my father. Thank you for being more than a deity, more than what the agnostics believe you to be. Thank you for being a father who desires a personal relationship, not a multitude of servants.

To my son I say: Happy Birthday Batman! I love you more every day. The very first moment I held you in my arms I said a silent prayer and dedicated your life back to God. It’s because I love you that I make it a vow to serve HIM more than ever before, so that you – my son – may know HIM – your abba father.