Payton turned nine a few weeks ago. That is a very sobering thought for me. We have reached the half way mark. Wow...my little boy! Tears immediately come to my eyes as I think about the world that he will go out into. Will he be ready? Will we have trained him in such a way that he will be ready to enter into the life God has for him. Will we be ready to let him go? I know God is graciously leading all of us to that point in our children's lives. The moment they enter the world, we begin a process of getting them ready to leave. God loves Payton more than I ever could. He will lead him and protect him - that is what I will hold on to. God is trustworthy and I can release to Him the most valuable possessions I have - each member of my family.
For his birthday, Payton wanted to spend an afternoon with his friends so we piled into the van and headed to Monkey Joe's. God has been so good to give us buddies that we hang out with on a consistent basis.
For the past year and a half, Payton has mentioned on and off that he would like to experience getting a pie thrown in his face. It was one of those things that I would smile at not thinking he was serious. It would come up at different holidays. When his 8th birthday came around he mentioned it again. But again, I thought he was being silly. When this year's birthday edged closer and we began dreaming of things to do for his birthday, the pie in the face came up again. I couldn't believe it. This time we were going to make it happen:
