Go son, Go!!!

When I was praying this morning, I was just talking to God like he was in front of me. I was commiting the day to Him and I told Him that I want to do something that pleases Him. I told Him that I hoped I could do something that made Him say "that's my boy!". Then my mind immediately took me back to when I was a kid.

When I was a kid I loved making my parents proud, especially my dad. I liked making my mom proud but she always showed me that she was proud. With every A, every time I picked up after myself, or even every time I got along with my brother, my mom told me she was proud. Dad was a little different. He noticed when we didn't make an A or didn't pick up after ourselves or didn't get along and he was quick to let us know. My dad was/is a good man and he was a loving father but he just didn't always show it. But the times when he told me that he was proud made me feel so important. They made me feel special and like I had done something great. My dad's friends have always told me "if you grow up to be half the man your dad is, you'll be a good man" so when dad was proud of me, I knew that I had done something special.

I have a very poor memory, but I have one memory that I will NEVER forget as long as I live. When I was in 8th grade the Monday after a football game, our team was watching the game film. This was after the first game of the season so our coach forgot to turn down the sound on the TV. I was a running back and I had a very good game. We lived in the country where everyone knew everyone so the game announcer knew my family. There was one particular play when I broke through the line, broke three or four tackles, and ran for about 70 yards. During the run I could hear my dad on the tape yell "go son, go!". The announcer (Mr. Campbell, the one with one leg shorter than the other for those of you that knew me at Porter Middle School) said to my dad, and you could hear it on tape, "hey big John, what are you feeding that boy"? You could hear my dad say "beans and taters". And then Mr. Cambell says "that boy runs like a corn-fed mule". You could hear my dad laugh and I could tell he was soooo proud. But all I could hear was "go son, go".

That's the acknowledgement that I seek from God. I pray every day that I can do something that will make Him chear "go son, go!". Just like my dad, I don't seek God's acknowledgement for the sake of acknowledgment. I seek it because I love Him so much, all I want to do is make Him proud. Maybe this is a father/son thing, I don't know. All I know is that at age 40 (yikes!) I still enjoy making my dad proud. I also know that I enjoy making my heavenly dad proud too. I love them both.

I encourage you today and tomorrow to do something that will make God cheer for you.

God loves you and I do too!