Lately our beautiful little ones have fallen into a pattern of coming into our room in the middle of the night and wanting to sleep with Leslie and I.  We had worked hard in the early months and years to have them sleep in their own beds but it feels like we are digressing now…even with Benjamin.

So last night Leslie was tucking Benjamin in the bed and going through the usual routine…blankie, sippy-cup, covers pulled tight, re-cap of the day and prayers.  She was reminding him that he was a “big boy” now and that he needed to stay in his bed all night.  “If you wake up in the middle of the night, just get a drink from your sippy cup right here, grab your blankie, roll over and go back to sleep.”

His reply, “But if I get scared, I need to see you.”

Wow.  How true, honest and primal.  We don’t want to be alone when we are scared.  When Benjamin wakes up in the middle of the night thinking about spiders or bees attacking him, he just wants to see his Mommy and Daddy.  I’m so proud of him for voicing this. I wish sometimes I could be this honest…to say what I feel and express my deepest desires.  To even realize my deepest fears and voice them to my Father.

As we start out the next few weeks at Cornerstone talking about prayer, I think of Benjamin’s words…”I need to see you.”  What a great prayer to begin with.  Sometimes we just need to know he is there.

I pray that all of us can learn to share our hearts with the Father that way.  I need practice in this as well.

“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13

So got the day going…a trip to Wal-Mart, the Bank, dropped off stuff at church and then to a friends house. Then back home for some fort building, lunch (during a movie), naps for the girls and a short quiet time for Benj. Then Benjamin and I did some linking logs, (my absolute favorite when I was a kid) and some games on my laptop. Leslie came home soon after. Always good to switch roles sometimes and live in each others world…makes us appreciate each other so much more.

Later that night at bedtime I was tucking Benj in. We read his new Dr. Seus book from the library, The Sleep Book, and then did our usual ritual..prayers then some verses together. Then I asked him “What was your favorite part of the day?” Something I usually try to get him to talk about. He usually goes off and starts talking about the planets or some random thing. But instead he just said, “You”.

It took me back at first. So I asked again, “Benjamin, what did you say, what was your favorite part of the day?” His eyes squinted as he smiled and put his finger into my chest and said it…”You”.

I couldn’t believe it. I was expecting to hear how he had fun building a fort out of quilts in our bedroom, or playing linking logs, or pretending to be spy agents, but not this. I was surprised. I told him that he was my favorite part of the day also.

Days later I’m still thinking about this. More than anything I feel loved. I think this is the kind of love that we all long for from others. When we are loved for who we are and not necessarily what we do for someone else. And it also made me realize how much time with my kids means to them. It is so important and I need to be more intentional about having un-hurried time with each of them.

That word “You” really did something to me. It charged my heart. It broke through the surface stuff of life. It was a moment that needs to be remembered. And since then it’s been as if God is resonating that word in me…like it’s coming from him.  “You, Josh…You are the most favorite part of my day.” But the real deal comes in on if I will believe it or not. I tempted not to believe it but I know it is true. My mind knows it…I’ve heard it all my life. In church, from friends, mentors and from his Word. “God loves you.” But “Josh, you are the favorite part of my day” is different.  It’s deeper, not worn out or used up.  Like I said, this is a moment to remember.

And just so you know…this is not just a special Josh thing…he feels this way about you also. Will you believe it with me?

Mr. William Walker Agerton, age 71, passed away at Bethany House of Auburn on June 19, 2007. Mr. Agerton was born in Quincy, Florida on October 15, 1935. He graduated from Gadsden County High School, and went on to serve his country in the United States Air Force, where he flew as a gunner on the B66 bomber aircraft from 1954 to 1958. In 1958, Mr. Agerton enrolled at Alabama Polytechnic Institute. He participated in Auburn’s cooperative education program, working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1963 he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. In 1967 Mr. Agerton graduated from Auburn University with a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering and continued working for NASA to develop space borne power supplies that were used in the Saturn V Rocket and Orbital Workshop Program. For the last twenty years of his life, Mr. Agerton worked as a National Sales and Contract Specialist with Epos Corporation, now Tier Technologies, in Auburn. He continued to work during his battle with cancer over the past eight years. Mr. Agerton was a dedicated member of the First Baptist Church of Opelika, Alabama, where he served as Deacon, Chairman of the Finance Committee and Sunday School teacher for both children and adults. Throughout his life, he has remained a loving husband, father, brother and friend. He is survived by his wife, Priscilla Ledbetter Agerton, Auburn; children, Josh Agerton (Leslie), Wilmore, KY, and Emily Agerton Prestridge (Chris), Auburn; sisters, Betty Agerton Chalker (Lee), Salt Lake City, UT, and Jean Agerton Eggersdorf, Tallahassee, FL; brother-in-law, J.C. Ledbetter, New Orleans, LA; and five grandchildren of which he was extremely proud, AnnaKathryn, Garrett, Benjamin, Liza and Grace. Visitation will be held Thursday at Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be conducted on Friday, June 22, 2007 a 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Opelika. Graveside service will follow at Town Creek Cemetery in Auburn. Memorial gifts honoring Mr. Agerton may be given to First Baptist Church of Opelika Building Fund, 301 South 8th Street, Opelika, AL 36801. Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home is directing.

The last few days Leslie and I have been sensing that we have been taking some pretty big blessings for granted…simply not having gratitude. This both convicted and taught us. As a father, it felt so good to hear these words from my prescious son. The rest of the night I just kept thinking how it would please God for me to do the same. I learned that gratitude does not have to be anything fancy or some big calculated act. It’s just a simple “thank you for cars daddy”.

I came home the other day, opened the garage door and walked in the back door to our home to see my son turning the corner from the hall into the kitchen, running towards me with both arms up in the air, shreeking with joy, holding a plastic soup ladel high in one hand. He was doing his best to run towards me, just being able to walk for a few weeks now. His feet pattered across our hard kitchen floor. He was wearing red and black plad flannel pants and a grey long sleve t-shirt with a big cartoon zebra on the front. He had on the little white lace up leather boots that klanked across the floor. He ran at me so hard that I had to catch him. I was kneeling down with my arms reaching out for him in his final steps. If I had not been there he woud have face planted right into the floor…he was coming at me that hard. Total trust. He had heard the garage door open from his room and took that as a sign that daddy was home. It was an ear piercing shreek he screamed out as he ran. Words can’t describe it. I caught him in my arms and wrapped him up. I love you Benjamin!

Man, how I long to be like Benjamin towards our Father in heaven! These children around us…they are amazing persons of faith and joy!