A Poem for Your Birthday

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" is the question people regularly ask children. We, as parents, have the advantage of life experience to answer this question. Many parents would answer the question differently if they could answer if for their children. As Christian parents, we should answer differently than parents that are not Christians. What the world wants for their children and what Christians want for their children should be noticeably different. The world may want things like wealth, fame, power, reputation, etc. A biblical vision for what we want for our children should look quite different. I asked myself what I want for my oldest child and it turned into a poem. This poem is my feeble attempt to put into words my mission for my firstborn son:


Tyler, When You Grow Up

When you grow up,
I want you to show yourself a man

When you grow up,
I want you to show mercy as much as you can

When you grow up,
I want you to love God and hate sin

When you grow up,
I want you to fear God and not men

When you grow up,
I want you to know your God and know yourself

When you grow up,
I want you to lead and love your wife

When you grow up,
I want you to train your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord

When you grow up,
I want you to be a doer of the word

When you grow up,
I want you to speak truth boldly and without fear

When you grow up,
I want you to know that your home is not here

When you grow up,
I want you to find your joy in God and store up treasure in heaven

When you grow up,
I want you to be a passionate man

When you grow up,
I want you to cherish doctrine

When you grow up,
I want you to exalt Christ’s name and avoid self-glorification

When you grow up,
I want you to do risk-taking acts of love

When you grow up,
I want you to set your mind on things above

When you grow up,
I want you to love others enough to say what they don’t like

When you grow up,
I want you to save your life by losing your life

When you grow up,
I want you to deserve nothing in your own mind

When you grow up,
I want you to be genuinely kind

And when you grow up, son, I want you to know,
That wherever your earthly father is, your heavenly father is with you wherever you go

Tyler - For Your Birthday

I'm no poet. I'm just a dad who is pretty sappy sometimes. I get choked up thinking about my kids growing up. My son, Tyler, is turning six years old tomorrow. Because I am so sappy, I wrote a poem for my son on his sixth birthday. Here it is. As far as poetry goes, it's pretty pathetic. Anyway, here it is:

Little guy, just writing this makes me tear up.
You're six years old and growing up.
Yesterday we brought you home,
Tomorrow we know that you'll be grown.

I felt the need to write you, son.
You need to know when all's said and done
That your dad loves you more than you'll know
And that his hope is that one day you'll grow
To be a joyful man who loves
His family and God above
All earthly joys and treasures here;
That no man's worthy of your fear.

Someday, I pray, you'll love your wife
And use the word that's like a knife
To lead your family in the way
Of holiness and learn to pray
Like Jesus did - the One who hid
The word and fought the Devil with
What He had stored up in His heart.
Tyler, our God has made you smart.
So use your mind to glorify
The maker of the earth and sky.

Don't waste you life on things that rust,
Nor build up all your hope and trust
On shadows that don't satisfy
But on Jesus who gives true life.

You're like your dad in many ways.
I used to hope it was a phase,
But in six years it's gotten worse.
It's nothing that we can reverse.
So maybe I can help you to
Avoid some things that I still do.

There's still some time to spend with you.
And when we're done I want you to
Be sure your dad loves you so much
That he's in awe that God gave such
A precious gift of love to Him.

I hope there'll be more words to come
From me to you if God gives some.
For now, another year's gone by.
Happy birthday, my little guy!