Kinda Like a First

Something rather special occurred in our home this last Sunday night. Steve just happened to finish up his math assignment early on in the weekend so he was around more than usual. Because of this, we decided to take advantage of his bit of freedom to take Isaac out on a little Daddy date.

But this wasn't just any Daddy date. It was something we had been planning for a long time...a few months in fact.

On this special night, his Daddy took him out to ice cream to give him his first real Bible.

A few months ago, we started realizing that he still didn't have a complete Bible. Now that he can read pretty fluently, we thought it would be the right time to get him one. But where to look? Back in the day, before so much online shopping, one could just walk into their local Christian bookstore. But we don't have one in our area. So we were forced to look online. The only downside was that it's hard to get a feel for the style of the Bible without looking at it in person.

There weren't too many criteria but there were a few things we were dead set-on. It had to be a full Bible (not a shortened version) in the ESV (because that's the version we have and we wanted it to be the same for simplicity's sake). We also didn't want it to be too childish. We don't have anything wrong with kiddy pictures but we didn't want it too cartoony because hey, that's just our style.

We finally found one that got great reviews at Walmart for $16. Can you say score? Not only that but, it's put out by Desiring God Ministries (John Piper). And pretty much, my husband is in love with John Piper so...we were sold. All of the study notes throughout the Bible are written by them and so they are really well done. The pictures are realistic and not too silly either. Double win! Ha!

So back to Sunday. We'd already had an adventurous afternoon with Elliana in Urgent Care due to a cut on her cheek that needed gluing. We were all a tad tired. So we waited until it was time for everyone to go to bed. And then Steve announced, as Isaac was brushing his teeth, that he needed to put his clothes back on and come with him. He had a present in his hand. Isaac was dumbfounded. His brothers were heartbroken (but I had a little trick up my sleeve for them, so it worked out okay). And off they went.

In the meantime, I put Elliana down and then I broke out the last two cupcakes from Caleb's Reformation Day Party at school the Thursday before. All was forgotten and Joshua and Caleb were giggling over the gummy worms. I made Diet of Wermes Cupcakes in honor of Martin Luther's trial (Diet is the German word for trial; and this Diet/Trial was held in the city of Wermes, Germany).

Later Steve filled me in on their little time. They went to "Froster's"...Foster's Freeze that is and Steve gave him the Bible. Isaac was so, SO excited.

It was a special night that we'll always remember. It was kinda like a first. You see, we know of a family that took their sons through various "ceremonies" I guess you could call them, at different points of their lives. These ceremonies were intentional with the hope of teaching them how to become men who love the Lord. We've always wanted to emulate that.

So among many steps, this was just the first one. It was pretty special for us to have Steve take his firstborn son out, give him his first Bible and tell him how much it means to him and how it will teach Isaac how to live...to love God and love others.

Pretty special indeed.