{"id":840,"date":"2014-09-04T22:36:58","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T02:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=840"},"modified":"2014-09-05T15:39:22","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T19:39:22","slug":"on-the-eve-of-a-25th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=840","title":{"rendered":"On the Eve of a 25th Birthday – A Charge, a Quote, & a Rhyme"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG<\/a>How can it be that you’re 25 years old tomorrow? I really don’t have the words…and you’re probably glad. Over the years, you have single-handedly taken me to my knees more often than you realize – praying to be the parent God would have me be for you; appealing to God for all the moves (overseas and stateside) to not be too hard for you; asking for comfort when situations were sometimes hard anyway; and thanking Him for all He did for you – the friendships, the opportunities, and His relationship with you from forever.<\/p>\n

So many memories. “Let’s\u00a0go kill buffalo!” Following your sister around for play ideas. Grandparent visits. Family vacations at the Chesapeake Bay. Carpool buddies. Gameboy. Drawing cartoons. Computer games. Getaways to the Red Sea. Dreamcast. Baptism back home in Tennessee. Roadtrips to the Sahara. Soccer. Cousins. Airports. Basketball. Grumpy when hungry – feed the boy. High School Rock Band. Great friendships. Game Nights. Sleep-Overs. PlayStation. Laughter. Working out. Classical Guitar. VCU. Aletheia Praise Band. Sharing a house with your brother, sister, and then Duy. Met and married\u00a0beautiful Bekkah. Grad school at East Carolina. Now back to Virginia, working and\u00a0making a home…grown.<\/p>\n

Settled for now in the U.S. after so many stamps in your passport. Settled in\u00a0our hearts forever. You make us laugh, and you make us think. Your grown-up heart is so worth the childhood\/teen year battles. And your music…what a gift to us. Whether you’re on electric, acoustic, or classical guitar. Your music goes right to the heart. Thank you for honing the gift God gave you.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0068\"<\/a>\"18\"<\/a>\"IMG_0047<\/a>\"Feb<\/a>\"Feb<\/a>\"2006<\/a>\"2006<\/a>\"2009<\/a>\"2011<\/a>\"20110318-DSC_0083\"<\/a>\"20110413-DSC_0097-Edit-1<\/a><\/p>\n

As you round the bend on this first quarter-century, I leave you with God’s word to Joshua, Oswald Sanders’ word to leaders, and a poem often quoted by our friend Tom Elliff.<\/p>\n

Happy birthday, Son. I’ll love you forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9<\/p>\n

“When a person is really marked out for leadership, God will see that that person receives the necessary disciplines for effective service.” – J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership<\/em><\/p>\n

When God wants to drill a man,
\nAnd thrill a man,
\nAnd skill a man.
\nWhen God wants to mould a man
\nTo play the noblest part;
\nWhen He yearns with all His heart
\nTo create so great and bold a man
\nThat all the world shall praise \u2013
\nWatch His method, watch His ways!
\nHow He ruthlessly perfects
\nWhom He royally elects;
\nHow He hammers him and hurts him,
\nAnd with mighty blows converts him
\nInto trial shapes of clay which only God understands
\nWhile his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands!
\nHow He bends, but never breaks,
\nWhen his good He undertakes. . . .
\nHow He uses whom He chooses
\nAnd with every purpose fuses him,
\nBy every art induces him
\nTo try his splendor out \u2013
\nGod knows what He\u2019s about.<\/em> – Anon.<\/p>\n

Nathan Mills Guitar<\/a><\/p>\n

J. Oswald Sanders’ Spiritual Leadership<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Part of Joni Eareckson Tada’s Testimony – Poem Drill a Man<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Book Favorite\u00a0I’ll Love You Forever <\/em>Before Helicopter Parenting Became a Cultural Issue<\/a><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How can it be that you’re 25 years old tomorrow? I really don’t have the words…and you’re probably glad. Over the years, you have single-handedly taken me to my knees more often than you realize – praying to be the parent God would have me be for you; appealing to God for all the moves … Continue reading On the Eve of a 25th Birthday – A Charge, a Quote, & a Rhyme<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[147,317,263,432,31,433,55,32],"tags":[567,573,571,121,570,578,569,577,572,574,576,575,568],"class_list":["post-840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-2","category-lessons-learned","category-lives-full-of-god","category-music","category-parenting","category-pray","category-transitions","category-walk-with-god","tag-birthday","tag-classical-guitar","tag-grown","tag-heart","tag-joshua","tag-nathan-mills-guitar","tag-oswald-sanders","tag-passport-stamps","tag-poem-drill-a-man","tag-praise-team","tag-roadtrips","tag-sahara","tag-son"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-dy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=840"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840\/revisions\/849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}