Joelan's Birthday

Today is Joelan Charles Howes' birthday. It is hard to believe that my firstborn and "one and only" son is 12 years old. BTW, he was named after his 2 granddads and Joseph of the Old Testament. One of my prayers for Joelan is that he would embody the character of these three men. Also, almost daily over the last 12 years, I have prayed and claimed Luke 2:52 for Joelan's life. This short verse is one of the only recorded Scriptures we have of Jesus' life growing up.

Luke 2:52 says, "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."

As a father, I have trusted God and done everything within my God-given abilities and resources to help Joelan grow physically, intellectually, relationally, and spiritually. And by the grace of God, I could not be more proud of him. Please say a prayer for Joelan today on his birthday that he would continue to grow into the man that God wants him to be.

As many of you know, Joelan loves baseball. Last year, for Joelan's 11 birthday, he and I went on the Father and Son trip of a lifetime. We flew to New York to watch the Yankees play in their last season at the Old Yankee Stadium. You can read a little about the trip in one of my favorite blog posts of all time, Lost in New York. This year, we are toning it down a bit. We are grilling hamburgers in the backyard and then, Raceboat Steve and I are taking Joelan and 5 of his best buddies to watch the Gwinnett Braves.