My Son....

Ahhh....the Bynum men.
Motley looking crew, don't you think? Especially that one on the far right.
My sons.....Josh (in the middle) and Chad (far left).
My pride and joy.
Today is Chad's birthday....

Time has a way of slipping up on you. Well, maybe not slipping up as much as it distracts you and keeps your focus elsewhere. During these "elsewhere" moments...life moves on.
I remember this day back in 1974. Vicki and I drove over to the Baptist Hospital for labor to be induced on her. Seems as though Chad didn't want to enter this ol' world naturally. He needed a little "shove" if you will. Strange thing to be a married couple....and you've gone through the nine months of pregnancy...and now you're going to meet the life that has been living inside your wife's body. As we drove over to the hospital, all I could think of was that by this afternoon, I will be a father.

Back in those days.....
(Ehhhh...I've turned into the geezer-monster, referring to time as "in those days).....
Anyway, you did not know what sex the baby was until birth. Vicki and I didn't care if we had a son or a daughter. We were just excited about the fact we were going to be a family. Of course looking back, she and I both were terrified about the whole deal. "What if we're not good parents? What if we mess this whole thing up?" Truth be known, we were babes ourselves.

I sat in the waiting room during the delivery....once again one of those "back in the day" things. Dad's were not welcomed in the delivery room. Finally the doctor came out and told me, "You've got a healthy baby boy.....baby and mother are doing fine."
A son....
I have a son....
The nurse stepped from the delivery room to show me my son....
She was about 20 feet away, and I was not allowed to hold him at that time.
I've got a son....
It just kept washing over me.

They finally took Vicki to a room on the maternity ward, and I got to see her. She was beautiful....tired but beautiful. She wanted me to go back into to town and pick up a few things for her, so I did. When I returned to the hospital, the ward was closed for the night.....I would not be able to see her or my son until tomorrow. Bummer.....

I drove home that night, back to Blountsville with an overwhelming since of responsibility. Not in a bad way, but it was a bit scary. "God, you've given us this little life....You've actually entrusted to us this child. A life that is like a blank slate, and we've got to fill in the blank spaces with the way we raise him." That was 43 years ago, and it seems as though it was only last week.

Yesterday, as we gathered to celebrate Chad's birthday, I took stock of the man who sat next to me.
No longer a little boy...he has a family of his own. Children that he and his wife, Robin, are raising.
He has forged a place of his own....making a name for himself that will become the standard that his children will reach to achieve. Chad never has been a quitter. He is a fighter when it comes to life. He set goals, and then moved through every obstacle to see them completed. I see the same kind of character in his children.

He has a love for God, and for His church....At the same time, he realizes that it is his and Robin's duty to raise their children in the ways of God, not to leave it up to the church. Chad believes, like I do, that the church's responsibility is to reinforce what is being taught at home.

To say that I'm proud of Chad is an understatement.
I'm not even sure if there is another word that supersedes proud.
So here on the birthday of my oldest son, Chad....
let it be known that as your parents, we ask God's blessings down on you and your family.
I love you, Chad.

God on you...
mbb