It Was 20 Years Ago Today

Sounds like a line from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band but actually it holds greater significance for me on this day today. I was youth pastor at FBC, Donelson, Tn and had taken our youth group to camp with Two Rivers Baptist Church. Two sister churches who decided not to compete for kids but reach as many as we could in ministry. Med Skeens was the youth pastor there at the time and we had a good working ministry relationship. We were at camp at Panama City Beach, FL and my wife called me at 3a and said it was time and that I needed to get home.

A little background - Sondra was great with child and that child was to be Shelbi Brooke. She was not due for another 2 weeks so we made all kinds of contingency plans just in case I was in FL at camp when Shelbi decided it was time to make her entry into the world. It might very well be the last time she was early to anything too.

I climbed on a plane, connected in Atlanta and arrived at the hospital with about an hour to spare. Sondra's sister, Bronwyn had come from Tulsa to stay with Sondra while I was gone and that proved to be a timely, wise plan. Shelbi showed up about 12:40p and our lives have never been the same since.

Shelbi is one of those blessings that God just continues to manifest. She is bright, articulate, and has more mercy than anyone I know. She is very driven and focused and is easily frustrated when her plans do not go like she had thought they would. She loves to "set her jaw" and is so much like her mom. That is a good thing for sure. She loves others and sacrifices for them. The pic to the side is her w/ an orphan in China just last month.

It has been truly amazing to watch Shelbi learn and grow and become a beautiful, young woman. She makes this dad very proud, not so much by all the wonderful things she does, but because she is ours. Happy Birthday Shelbi. I cannot believe you are 20! You make your mom and me very proud and thankful and blessed. God sure did a good thing for us when He allowed us to be your parents.

Have a great birthday. Morgan and I will celebrate it for you in San Francisco. Love you.