I was scheduled to do a talk tonight in Hobart, Tasmania. I had planned this out for several months, and the “punch-line” to drive home my point involves my 5 year old son doing something on stage with me. He is severely jet lagged, and it was becoming evident that he was not going to be physically or mentally able to perform the task at hand. About 20 minutes before I went on I took him outside while I went to the restroom just to see how he was holding up. Poor little guy was way past REM sleep. Groggy, trying to fight his own body…. tired. He was just pooped. There were no two ways about it, he wouldn’t be able to do what I had planned. He asked if he could go back and sit with Tara, which I agreed to. Silently, and without any communication at all (verbal, gesturing, etc.) both my wife and I knew that we could not ask him to do what we had originally planned. It’s one of those parent things you do when you’re really in tuned with your mate. We agreed without agreeing… we just knew. I got up… did the talk… did a little demonstration… then I asked the question to my wife above the crowd.

“There’s only one other person in this room that can do what you just saw me do… and he’s my 5 year old son. (turning to my wife) He’s too tired to come up here and demonstrate this isn’t he?”

Out of a room of several hundred people, we all heard a strong little man voice state matter-of-factly.

“NO I’M NOT”. My 5 year old son had mustered up enough mental strength to overcome what his body felt like, and come to the aid of his helpless father. He got out of his seat, walked down front in front of all those people (which is something he’s never done before, even when fully awake), and efficiently did the demonstration and told me I was welcome when I thanked him.

I’m not proud of my son because he “made Dad look good”, or because he performed an act of service. I’m proud of my son because he made a decision to override the desires of his body to do what he knew was right. This type of decision making at 5 years old is what I hope translates over into the more important things of life later on through the years.

I’m a very proud father right now. I Love him. I Love his heart. (Prov 4:23)

That’s all I wanted to say…. but I really wanted to say it.