July 4, 1993 and a Prayer

   July 4th is an important day in American History. It symbolizes the break from England and Independence and Freedom, and it lives today as a celebration of what the Founding Fathers achieved. They could not know what would develop from their acts, but they were led to take the risk. They were willing to sacrifice their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor for their dream. They stood for something, and they persevered. We are all the recipients of that dream.

   Yes, 1776 was an important July 4th and their have been others in the history of this country. In 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, giants among the founders, died. In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the Union won at Gettysburg and also at Vicksburg, two battles that went a long way in deciding the fate of this country.

   But today my mind goes to a more personal July 4th. In 1993, our first grandson was born in Reston, Virginia. His grandmother and I were hosting a get together of some of our old friends at our place in Apison. The celebration was going along fine when we got a call from Dwayne that his firstborn was about to enter the world. We quickly sent our guests home, packed up, went to the airport, got the plane out and took off for the DC area. Dwayne and Karen's first child was born that day, Sawyer Austin Bowman, and the whole city of Washington, DC celebrated with a tremendous fireworks display on the National Mall that night, as they have every year since then. It was a momentous day.

   Now Sawyer is 19, a rising sophmore at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He has been blessed with a great family, great parents, a good mind, a winning personality and a soft heart for others. He has a great work ethic which has led to success in the classroom and on the athletic field. If there is one word that comes to my mind this morning it is POTENTIAL. He has the abilities to go far in whatever he chooses to do in life.

   All of which leads me to spend some time, in the quiet part of this early morning, praying for him on his day, a day in which his life spreads out before him like the brightness of a summer day.

   First of all I pray that God would fill Sawyer with a love that will characterize his life. A love for God, a love for Jesus and a love for family and others. A love for country and for all those who have given themselves so that he might stand where he does today, looking out at a life of great potential. Give him a love of the past, a love of the present and its opportunities, and a love that will guide his life in the future, a love based on Your love for him and that results in an outpouring of his love for others.

   Secondly, I pray that You, God, will reach into his life in a personal way, guiding his decisions, leading him to men and women and fellow students who will nurture him and give him wise counsel. Make him a man like David of old, a man after God's own heart. Help him to recognize Your call on his life, so that he might live a life of purpose for others, not a life of personal gain for himself.

   Sawyer is special, God made him that way, and I'm glad he is my grandson.