Earlier this week, our oldest grandson, Connor, turned sixteen years old. First of all, this seems incredible to me – that Janet and I are old enough to have a child in her forties and, moreover, that she has a son who is turning sixteen. But time marches on and before you know it, Connor will be moving on to college and the real working part of his life will begin.
For the time being, he is quite a guy. He has a morning radio show at the local high school, is athletic, studies foreign languages and has been through his own trials and tribulations with health issues when he was a young boy at Riley Hospital. Now, however, he is a fundraiser for Riley, as a former Riley Kid, and it seems remarkable to remember the day he went into surgery and here he is today committed to helping other boys and girls who are facing similar trials. I am impressed with the way he is growing and most of the time Connor seems well centered and on the right track.
Tonight, Janet and I took Connor out to dinner as an additional celebration for his birthday. I felt bad that I was out of town on the actual day when the rest of the family came together for dinner, so I tried to make up for it tonight. Janet and I felt that it was time to start teaching Connor about the value of saving money and that by starting to invest at an early age, life can be much easier down the road. So we announced out intention to launch him on a path of fiscal responsibility.
There were lots of questions about various investment vehicles and the conversation even turned to Bitcoin and how the cyber currency is traded and watched. I was amazed at Connor’s grasp of financial concepts and how he could whip out statistics on various stocks that he had an interest in. I think our job of getting him interested in the markets is going to be easier than I originally thought.
As I sat there at dinner, it was clear to me that Connor is in that stage when kids start to think about the more adult things in life and begin to put the more childish things behind them. I hope that he continues on this path. In fact, it was one of the first dynamic adult conversations I have had with Connor and I found it intellectually stimulating. I found myself thinking about the future and what kinds of conversations we can have as he continues to mature and take an interest in the news and what Congress is working on these days.
Additionally, these talks provide me that chance to learn more about Connor’s life and the things that are important it him. Let’s face it – Janet and I are two generations removed from him and the things that are relevant to Connor and his friends.
The verse for tonight is from the apostle Paul. Near the end of the famous love chapter in Corinthians, Paul goes on to explain about love and how it never fails compared to other things. He even highlights some of the changes of life and Paul tells us, in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”
I was reminded of this verse after dinner tonight. My encouragement this evening is that Christ wants us to evolve through the stages of human growth. When we were younger, Jesus reminds us that we had childlike faith and that as we grow, we are to progress and mature in our faith – going from spiritual “milk” to solid food. We are to learn about Jesus and to enter into deeper relationships. Such is the case with our human interactions as well. My prayer is that we will all continue to mature and grow in our personal relationships as well as in our faith as we age. Happy Birthday, Connor, and keep up the great work! We love you! Have a great day in the Lord grace and peace…