Today is my 60th birthday. Thanks to Facebook, I have received numerous birthday wishes and I appreciate each one.
I am NOT a believer in numerology but, for fun, I decided to jot down some things for each year of life the Lord has given me. Many of these will change from year to year but, again, this is just for fun. Here we go:
1 - number of sisters I have (she is older!); number of sons I have; number of wives I have (and she is awesome!)
2 - number of brothers I have (they are younger)
3 - jersey number of the greatest baseball player of all time (and my favorite), George Herman ("Babe") Ruth
4 - number of pets presently in my house (I could quickly change this number to 1)
5 - number of years employed by HODA (House of Decorative Accessories)
6 - number of years (almost) as pastor of Silex Baptist Church; number of DAYS I worked for Eckert's Market one summer
7 - number of sermons I preached from Isaiah 9:1-7 in 2009
8 - number of daughters I have; number or years I have had a bad big toe (thanks grandson!)
9 - number of children God has given to us!
10 - number of grandchildren from the Lord (including the one due in September)!
11 - total number of years (almost) employed by McDonnell Douglas
12 - number of sermons I preached from Malachi in 2001; number of pills I presently take each day
13 - age I received my first pair of glasses; # of the highway running through my home town
14 - age when I saw a 3-0 Giants victory over the Braves at Candlestick Park in San Francisco: Braves had one hit and the Giants 3 (solo homers by Mays, McCovey, and Cepeda)
15 - birthday when I received my first Strat-O-Matic Baseball game ("3-5!")
16 - number of New Testament History classes I have taught at Missouri Baptist University
17 - number of years I have been a grandfather (as of this Saturday!); age when I became champion in the New Athens High School Chess Club
18 - total physical descendants of Debbie and me born to date
19 - total physical descendants of Debbie and me born after September of this year
20 - Total years employed by IBM
21 - number of days YOUNGER I am than one of my closest friends ("the Pawhuska Prophet"!); number of Old Testament History classes taught at Missouri Baptist University
22 - Age when I received my B. A. in math, was born again by God's Holy Spirit, and married to my terrific wife (that was quite a year!)
23 - number of sermons I preached from 1 John in 2001
24 - age when I earned my M. S. in Computer Science and began my IBM career. Also, number of letters in the Greek alphabet (love that Greek! Thank you, Dr. Metts!).
25 - total number of sermons preached in my exposition of Galatians in 2000 (in hindsight, not enough!)
26 - number of sermons preached in my exposition of Colossians in 2009. Also, my age when our IBM softball team won the IBM league championship.
27 - day of the month of May on which I was born; also my age when God called me into the ministry
28 - number of years we have lived in our present home (as of July)
29 - a prime number (love those primes!); # of pages in my thesis for an M.S. in Computer Science ("On the Minimization of Incompletely Specified Sequential Machines"; I'm not even sure what that means any more!)
30 - number of years since I graduated from Criswell College and was ordained to the Gospel ministry; number of sermons I preached from Ecclesiastes in 2004 (that was a struggle!)
31 - Day in the month of October on which we celebrate the Protestant Reformation (you rock, Martin!); also the Trinity number ("3" in "1")
32 - number of pieces on the board at the beginning of a chess match; number of months remaining in the worse Presidency of our country's history
33 - Atomic number of Arsenic (reminds me of "Arsenic and Old Lace"); supposed age of Jesus when he died (likely closer to 35); number of years I have struggled studying Biblical Hebrew!
34 - number of years I have had the pleasure of studying Biblical Greek
35 - number of giraffes I can see while sitting at my desk
36 - number of years I have been a father
37 - number of years I have been married to the greatest woman I know (you rock, Debs!)
38 - number of years since I graduated with my first college degree
39 - Stonewall Jackson's age at his death; number of signers of the United States Constitution; number of sermons I preached from 1 Peter in 2005.
40 - approximate number of Big Macs I will consume this year
41 - years since I watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon
42 - average number of hours I sleep each week; number of years since I graduated from high school
43 - age when my first grandchild AND my last child were born
44 - age when I broke my arm at second base playing softball; uniform number of my favorite childhood contemporary ball player, Hank Aaron
45 - total years I had with my father (who would have been 99 yesterday)
46 - my age on the Mother's Day when I preached to a Pinckneyville congregation from Obadiah 15-17 a sermon entitled "Judgment!" (Happy Mother's Day to all)
47 - age when Debbie and I had a blast in Germany and Switzerland
48 - number of years since I first saw "Lawrence of Arabia" on the big screen
49 - my age when I became the pastor of Silex Baptist Church; number of years (almost) I had with my mother
50 - my birthday party when Debbie bought me my last bicycle; I rode it once and decided not to do so again for safety reasons. Took it back to the store, got our money back, and bought stuff for her instead. I loved and rode bikes all the time when I was a kid. But that was in a previous life...
51 - number of books (including Bibles) presently setting on my desk (and not my bookshelves) at home
52 - number of cards in a regular card deck (how many games of "15" have I played over the years?)
53 - The Babe's age when he died.
54 - number of home runs hit by the Babe in 1920, shattering his own record of 29 from the year before. He did this in only 142 games.
55 - Debbie's current age; I pray she has another 55 to go!
56 - my age at the first Wild Walker Week held in Myrtle Beach; number of signers to the Declaration of Independence; number of short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Sherlock Holmes.
57 - number of varieties advertised by Henry Heinz though he actually had more than 60 at the time
58 - number of classes I have taught at Missouri Baptist University through the Spring 2010 semester
59 - my age when I began the pastorate at Bethesda Baptist; number of sermons I have preached to date at Bethesda Baptist.
and, finally,
60 - the number of home runs the Babe hit in 1927 (154 games - I still consider it the record since Maris had 162 games and the modern era players used steroids!); the number of years the Lord has graciously given me to date!
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Happy 36th Birthday, Sonja!
The Lord has truly blessed my life by permitting me to be the father of 10 children, 9 of whom were actually born and serving Him today. While there are resemblances among all of them ("You're a Walker, aren't you?"), each of my children is unique. God has designed them that way and I am delighted He has done so.
I love my children. There are likely times when each of them have doubted that fact. I know there were times when I was very young that I doubted my parents loved me, especially my father. But they did and so do I. Each of my children are a precious gift from God and I truly love them.
Furthermore, I do not believe my love is preferential towards any of my offspring. Oh, there will be moments when my attention may be towards one child over another and such moments should and must exist. Wedding days, birthdays, special events such as graduation bring focus upon one specific child and a parent should recognize such moments by placing their attention (and love) solely on the "child of the day". But, and God knows my heart, I do not have more love for any one of my children than I do for the other. I love each of them for who they are and am grateful to God for making them who they are.
With this said, though, I call you back to 1973 when a significant event occurred in my life: I became a father for the first time. At 11:56 a.m. on Saturday, October 6, 1973, little Sonja Renee was born (her mother had her name picked out BEFORE we were even engaged!). Unfortunately, I was not permitted in the delivery room on that date (no one was in those days). Furthermore, I did not get to hold her until the following Wednesday when she and her mother were released from the hospital (no problems-they just kept moms and babies for several days back in 1973). Yet I saw her in her mother's arms and thought she was the most beautiful baby ever born. Her mom was exhausted after the delivery but beaming when she told me we had a daughter. I was so excited, so happy, I felt like crying and shouting all at once.
The birth of each of my subsequent children have had a similar effect on me. In fact, I have been by my wife's side for their births unlike Sonja's. But I must be honest and say there is nothing like seeing your first born child.
It wasn't until we brought Sonja home from the hospital that the responsibility of being a father actually hit me. There were times that responsibility would paralyze me. Learning how to be a father is a difficult task and I fear I failed so many times in Sonja's brief life. She was our first and we wanted nothing to hurt her or harm her. To be honest, I'm certain I over protected her most of her life not only in the physical realm but also the spiritual. Thankfully, the Lord has "loosened me up" a bit over the past 15 years. But, reflecting back on the type of father I was with Sonja, I do regret not having been more "loose" with her as well. Even best intentions are not always best.
But what great memories I have! I remember sitting with a pre-school Sonja in the evenings and helping her learn how to sound out words usually the books of the Bible as practice ("M-a-r-k"). I remember reading "Go Dog, Go" hundreds of times with Sonja pointing at the same pictures over and over again. I remember being so concerned about how 2 1/2 year old Sonja would respond to her newborn brother when he came home from the hospital, only to see her love him and baby him.
I remember Sonja picking up a wiffle ball bat for the first time and stand at the plate as a lefty! She always did everything else as a righthander, including throwing. But she batted lefthanded by her own choosing. I refused to "correct" her stance.
I remember her hitting a home run in her first season in Texas Little League only to have her coach burn her arm with his cigarette after she scored. I remember her always claiming to have been hit by a car in the parking lot of our apartment in New York. I remember her scoring her first soccer goal on a penalty kick only to have it waved off because a teammate was in the box too early. So many great memories because God permitted Sonja to be my daughter.
Most of all, I remember her smile, her laugh, and her sparking eyes as a youngster. Oh, how grateful I am that she still has that smile, that laugh, and those sparkling eyes even now.
So, on her 36th birthday, I want Sonja to know how much her father loves her. I always have and always will. You are my firstborn and I am so proud and grateful for you. You are a beautiful, intelligent, hard working, fun loving daughter who has become a great mom herself. If there have been moments in your life when you believed I did not care for you as much as one of your siblings then I apologize for that has never been and will never be the case. If there have been moments in your life when you thought I was disappointed in you, you are mistaken. You, pumpkin, are precious to me and I believe it would be difficult for any daughter to please her father as much as you have pleased me.
I am grateful, so grateful, that God saved you when you were younger. No one ever deserves salvation, that is certainly clear from Scripture. But, in my heart and eyes, you almost did! My prayer is the Lord would give you many more years of happiness serving Him and that He would permit you to see several generations of YOUR family come to saving faith in Christ.
Happy Birthday, little Sonja Renee. You have been and will always be a blessing to me. I do love you.
Dad
I love my children. There are likely times when each of them have doubted that fact. I know there were times when I was very young that I doubted my parents loved me, especially my father. But they did and so do I. Each of my children are a precious gift from God and I truly love them.
Furthermore, I do not believe my love is preferential towards any of my offspring. Oh, there will be moments when my attention may be towards one child over another and such moments should and must exist. Wedding days, birthdays, special events such as graduation bring focus upon one specific child and a parent should recognize such moments by placing their attention (and love) solely on the "child of the day". But, and God knows my heart, I do not have more love for any one of my children than I do for the other. I love each of them for who they are and am grateful to God for making them who they are.
With this said, though, I call you back to 1973 when a significant event occurred in my life: I became a father for the first time. At 11:56 a.m. on Saturday, October 6, 1973, little Sonja Renee was born (her mother had her name picked out BEFORE we were even engaged!). Unfortunately, I was not permitted in the delivery room on that date (no one was in those days). Furthermore, I did not get to hold her until the following Wednesday when she and her mother were released from the hospital (no problems-they just kept moms and babies for several days back in 1973). Yet I saw her in her mother's arms and thought she was the most beautiful baby ever born. Her mom was exhausted after the delivery but beaming when she told me we had a daughter. I was so excited, so happy, I felt like crying and shouting all at once.
The birth of each of my subsequent children have had a similar effect on me. In fact, I have been by my wife's side for their births unlike Sonja's. But I must be honest and say there is nothing like seeing your first born child.
It wasn't until we brought Sonja home from the hospital that the responsibility of being a father actually hit me. There were times that responsibility would paralyze me. Learning how to be a father is a difficult task and I fear I failed so many times in Sonja's brief life. She was our first and we wanted nothing to hurt her or harm her. To be honest, I'm certain I over protected her most of her life not only in the physical realm but also the spiritual. Thankfully, the Lord has "loosened me up" a bit over the past 15 years. But, reflecting back on the type of father I was with Sonja, I do regret not having been more "loose" with her as well. Even best intentions are not always best.
But what great memories I have! I remember sitting with a pre-school Sonja in the evenings and helping her learn how to sound out words usually the books of the Bible as practice ("M-a-r-k"). I remember reading "Go Dog, Go" hundreds of times with Sonja pointing at the same pictures over and over again. I remember being so concerned about how 2 1/2 year old Sonja would respond to her newborn brother when he came home from the hospital, only to see her love him and baby him.
I remember Sonja picking up a wiffle ball bat for the first time and stand at the plate as a lefty! She always did everything else as a righthander, including throwing. But she batted lefthanded by her own choosing. I refused to "correct" her stance.
I remember her hitting a home run in her first season in Texas Little League only to have her coach burn her arm with his cigarette after she scored. I remember her always claiming to have been hit by a car in the parking lot of our apartment in New York. I remember her scoring her first soccer goal on a penalty kick only to have it waved off because a teammate was in the box too early. So many great memories because God permitted Sonja to be my daughter.
Most of all, I remember her smile, her laugh, and her sparking eyes as a youngster. Oh, how grateful I am that she still has that smile, that laugh, and those sparkling eyes even now.
So, on her 36th birthday, I want Sonja to know how much her father loves her. I always have and always will. You are my firstborn and I am so proud and grateful for you. You are a beautiful, intelligent, hard working, fun loving daughter who has become a great mom herself. If there have been moments in your life when you believed I did not care for you as much as one of your siblings then I apologize for that has never been and will never be the case. If there have been moments in your life when you thought I was disappointed in you, you are mistaken. You, pumpkin, are precious to me and I believe it would be difficult for any daughter to please her father as much as you have pleased me.
I am grateful, so grateful, that God saved you when you were younger. No one ever deserves salvation, that is certainly clear from Scripture. But, in my heart and eyes, you almost did! My prayer is the Lord would give you many more years of happiness serving Him and that He would permit you to see several generations of YOUR family come to saving faith in Christ.
Happy Birthday, little Sonja Renee. You have been and will always be a blessing to me. I do love you.
Dad
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