Day 3- A son and his ribs

I mentioned in my first post that I would borrow a couple of firsts from the month of December. This is the second day in a row for that, but since I wrote about Hannah Grace yesterday it seems that I should kick this thing off with a first with Joel.  Joel is my 9 year old boy.  Joel and his Daddy love ribs. He's never been to a "real" rib place and I've wanted to take him to one for a couple of years. So, last week, I took Joel to TJ Ribs in Baton Rouge. In my humble opinion, some of the best ribs in the entire civilized world as we know it today.  Joel is also an LSU fan and since we live in Alabama (Alabama is his second favorite team) this was a good chance for him to see a lot of LSU paraphernalia.  What son of an LSU fan can truly live life to the full without seeing some photos of Peter Maravich? He has now seen some.  I feel like a better Dad.

Joel loved his ribs.

 

 

 

I was so glad I did this "first."  The big hold up for me on this one was time and expense.  It was a lot of money for me to spend on me and my 9 year old for a meal. We are more of a dollar menu at McDonald's kind of family when we are traveling. Yet, he was so happy. His face was priceless.  I think he may have thanked me 10 times during the meal.  It truly was a memorable night.  Thank you Joel, for reminding me to savor and be grateful for a great meal which is also a gift from God. 

 

That night reminded me of a Mark Batterson quote, "Collect experiences and not possessions." It is the experiences of life that make it meaningful.  This is a truth that I need to be reminded of often. When I gather with friends and family, it's the stories that we tell that are so fun.  Our kids love to hear stories about when they were babies.  If we don't collect experiences, we have no stories.  I want to have a vast collection of "Jesus stories" to tell. I have some but this year is about collecting more.  I know how to tell someone the Biblical truths about Jesus and that is incredibly important.  But there are those who are not so interested in hearing an explanation of the Gospel who may listen to a story of how Jesus did something pretty cool in my life. 

 

So, as we prepare to travel home from our Christmas vacation, we'll probably revert back to the dollar menu.  Perhaps there is a "first" there as well. I will also travel with the image of a smiling young boy with a full belly in my mind. Tomorrow, no borrowing from December- this is about to get a bit scary.

 

On the lookout to collect experiences

 

 

Barry

 

3 things I thank God for today

1. He is active in our lives

2. He gives us stories to tell

3. TJ Ribs