God bless you…

Our son, Tay, returned from Young Life camp early this morning. Like 1:45 am early. He looked great even though he looked beyond tired. He smelled like camp. I was just so happy to see him. I hugged him in public and kissed the top of his head when we got home. Tay was back where he belonged…

As we sat at the kitchen island and he opened up a box of Cheez-its and grabbed a chewy, I listened to him tell me about camp pranks, camp competitions, camp laughs, camp late nights and early mornings, and about camp chats with Mike Chilcoat and the other leaders. His eyes were tired but lit up at the same time. He asked me what day it was and when his Mom was coming home. “Sunday and early Monday,” I replied. He laughed as he thought about losing such track of time.

As we got up from our chairs and shared a last hug goodnight, I told Tay to sleep as long and as late as he liked. He needs his sleep and I felt a little like Miss telling him this with such emphasis. He smiled and said he would. Church with Chet, I told him, would be the plan for whenever he wakes up. Sounds good came back but with an amazing “and” from T. Scott. You see, T.Scott asked me a question and it’s one that I’ve never heard from him and one that I did NOT expect. He said, “Dad, do you mind if I lead Church with Chet tomorrow?” I told T.Scott that he most certainly could lead and that I would look forward to it. We shared another hug and then he headed up.

As I turned toward my room, I noticed that my face, all of a sudden, hurt in a good kinda way. I was smiling so big, I think, that I must have been stretching some of those muscles around my eyes and the corners of my mouth. T. Scott is taking the lead, I thought to myself. T. Scott wants to lead me. If he only knew how much I want to follow. If only he knew…

God, thank you for giving us the gift of Tay. God, thank you for giving Tay the gift of such a strong mind and pairing it with a soft heart. God, thanks for Young Life and for the leaders who give such great gifts to young lives like Tay. Thanks God. Thanks sister Rachy Rach. Thanks Sims. Thanks Chilly. Thanks for building into T. Scott.

God bless you…