Forever Young

Hey Son-


So, it's the day before Thanksgiving 2011, you're very nearly six months old and growing so fast and developing so much every day. There's this song by Bob Dylan, called Forever Young. It happens to be a theme song on tv show your mom and I watch sometimes too, but it was a Bob Dylan song first. We printed out the lyrics and framed them and they hang in your room, hopefully they will for a long time. 


This morning, round about 5:15a, I was sitting with you in the red rocker, trying to help you fall asleep, and I decided to sing those lyrics to you. I'm not sure why but I began to cry a bit. Now this has been happening alot lately. The other day I was watching a movie called New York, I Love You, and there is this scene where a bickering old couple walk across town to a pier where they had gone every year on their anniversary for the last 63 years. Once they arrived, they both got quiet, then the wife laid her head on the husbands shoulder and hugged his arm. He leaned down and kissed her, and I was sitting there by myself while you were sleeping in the other room, crying..And there was some other instance of a couple married for 65 years or something, kissing each other, making me cry, so maybe it has something to do with love, with family...anyways...


The lyrics to that song go like this:

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young

(this 3rd verse isn't printed in your room, but I included it for funzies)

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young

So I sang the first two verses to you, almost as a prayer, well not even almost, I literally prayed a Bob Dylan song over you, which reminds me that truth is truth, and beauty is beauty, regardless of where it is found. Remember to look for it, seek it out, don't let others tell you what is truth or what is beautiful or what is good, find it. My prayer for you is that you are not a sheep, blindly going with the flow of culture or even the church, but that you would know God, really, truly, intimately know him. My prayer is that you would be a champion for the lost, hurting, broken of this world. That you would never see yourself as better as anyone, but never let anyone tell you that you are less. That you would know the gifts that you have and be confident and stable enough to celebrate the strength in other. That you would stand up in the face of despair and encourage, literally give courage, to those who have no hope. One of my foundation scriptures is Heb 10:39-We are not those who draw back to destruction, but those who believe and are saved. 

I pray that you live a life of adventure, of deep friendships, that you fall deeply in love with a woman of character and grow old with her, that you stand up for good and truth, that you live the true Kingdom of God, that you lend strength to the broken, that you find peace in the midst of turmoil and that you remember to look to the sky for inspiration, and that you would find it. 

How can I love you so much, I've only known you for 6 months. 

(I cried as I wrote that last paragraph, man tears of course)

Love you son, 

Dad