Ten Years...

Today my oldest son turns ten. It hardly seems possible that Elijah has been in my life for a decade. It just seems like yesterday that we woke up on a cold, SNOWY Saturday morning to head to Wilson N Jones Hospital for our first adventure in parenting. The years are flying by and they’ve been filled with so many great memories. And since I have an affinity for top ten lists, I figured I would share another one. So here are ten memories from ten years of my oldest son.

10. When we were in Abilene, Robin and I coached the girls’ basketball team at Abilene Christian High School. Elijah was three years old when we started doing this, and he loved all the attention from the girls. But instead of calling them the Panthers or mommy’s team, he referred to them as “Mommy’s Ladies.” So to this day Robin and I still refer to that group of girls as “Mommy’s Ladies.”
9. Elijah was maybe 18 months old as we were sitting in church on a Sunday morning. He was down on the floor driving a toy car back and forth in the pew while the sermon was taking place. The preacher was talking about the power of prayer, and the first time he said “pray” Elijah quickly looked up, tossed his car to the side, folded his hands and then bowed his head. Robin got tickled, and I got a little teary-eyed.
8. Walking through the Midway Mall in Sherman…when Elijah found a jukebox that was playing a variety of CD’s. He was just learning how to read really well, and went up to the jukebox to test his skills. Unfortunately, the CD that was visible was AC/DC’s “Back In Black.” And Elijah’s eyes went straight to Track 5…and he read (LOUDLY): “LET…ME…PUT…MY…LOVE…INTO…YOU.” Embarrassing for me, but it entertained all the ladies at the perfume counter.
7. His first picture with Santa Claus. This face is the same face that could be seen anytime a mascot or Chuck E. Cheese happened to walk by as well.
6. The time he did an awesome disappearing act at the Old Navy in Abilene. One moment he was there – the next he was gone. I ran around the store calling his name, had the manager call Mall Security and alert all of the stores in the Mall…only to find him sticking his head out of a rack of clothes that he was HIDING in.
5. I learned a lot from my little guy one day in downtown Chicago. We were walking back to the hotel we were staying in when we came upon a homeless family sitting in the streets. I grabbed some change out of my pocket, tossed it in their bucket and kept walking. Elijah asked me, “What did you do that for?” I said, “Those people don’t have a home, so I wanted to help them.” “Can I give them some of my money,” he asked? So we turned around. Elijah reached into his wallet, pulled out a $10 bill and put it in the family’s bucket. Best sermon I ever “heard.”
4. In truly one of the worst experiences of my entire life, I took Elijah AND Noah to the health department to get their annual vaccinations. This link says it all: http://chriscampbell.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_archive.html
3. When Elijah was a baby, as one of us would feed him and rock (or WALK) him to sleep, he would grab the skin on your elbow and rub it. To this day, if I’m close by and he starts to get sleepy, he STILL will grab my elbow and start rubbing it.
2. Any drive with Elijah that lasts more than 15 minutes has one thing in common: I will be asked the question, “How many more towns do we have to go through before we get to . At the age of 3, Elijah could name every city between Fort Worth and Abilene – yes, even the ghost towns of Thurber and Mingus!
1. Robin was enjoying her Demerol Cocktail the night that Elijah was born…and it was just he and I. We sat up all night together. I sang every song I could think of to him, although I kept coming back to “Bad” by U2 and The Ramones rendition of the theme from “Spiderman.” That was a special moment for me. My first night as a father – the first night of a journey. This journey has seen two more little traveling companions join the ride, and I feel blessed that THE FATHER has entrusted THIS father with those precious gifts.