it’s been 18 years… are you kidding?!
Posted by Ben on November 9, 2011
Sunday was an amazing day. The young man that I mentor turned 18 and he decided he wanted 2 things for his birthday. The first was that he wanted to get baptized. Pastor Duane asked him who has helped him spiritually get to this point and who he wanted to be in the water with him. He chose me. I had the honor of walking into the cold water of Lake Ponchatrain with him to submerge him. The second thing he wanted was to celebrate by to Illegal Burrito, home of the largest burrito either of us had ever seen, for dinner.
As we were talking and hanging out later that night I felt compelled to ask him what year he was born in. His answer, 1993, hit me like a ton of bricks. Before our eyes this adolescent is turning into a man. He’s making wise decisions, my son calls his name constantly because he loves to play with him, and my wife and I honestly enjoy having him around. In some ways he’s like the son that’s about to transition to college that we don’t yet have, and Sunday I realized that he was born 3 days after I lost my own father. Suddenly I was looking at a boy growing up. I was looking at how much of my own life passed by without my father. In many ways my life started over that day, and I can see a scared little boy turning into a confident man. It is shocking and a blessing to be able to mentor this young man who started his life 3 days after mine was changed forever.
