Date Night #2 with Mom

After Obadiah’s date night with Mom a couple of weeks ago, we have been clearing the calendar to make sure little brother Eli got the same opportunity.  He was so giddy about taking his mom out on a date, he talked about a whole lot.  Even if we didn’t plan on them having a date (which we did), his persistence would have broken us down.  He kept talking about taking Mom out.

So Saturday after he got up from his nap, he walked downstairs to see what was on the agenda for the rest of the night.  When we surprised him, his response was priceless.

Mom said, “Eli, we’ve got something planned special tonight, but I want to write it down and see if you can read it to me.”

He scurried down the hall to get a piece of paper and a marker.  Amanda wrote out the word “date” on it.  He began to read each letter and sound out what the word could be.  He first stated, “Dog?”  Uhmm, no.

As he got to, “D..ah..t…”  his eyes were cocked to the side as he was deep in thought and then it slipped through his lips: “Date?”  His eyes looked up towards us with hopeful anticipation that he had gotten the word right, and when we affirmed his reading abilities, he shouted “yay” and ran and jumped on his Mommy’s lap and buried his head on her shoulder.  The joy in that lil’ boy’s frame was contagious.  Mom and Dad teared up.  Obie started cheering for him.  Gloria was kicking her feet and rolling on the floor.

We ran upstairs to get him ready.  He wanted to wear a tie like his brother Obie, and he had saved his favorite blue shirt for 2 weeks awaiting this night.  He picked it out, and we got ready.  He said he wanted to smell like a man, so I greased him up big time.  As the scent reached his nostrils, he began to do his manly grunt for me.

Sidenote: the next day when we were at the church house, he ran into Preacher Jeff and said, “Preacher Jeff, what are you doing with a tie?  You don’t wear ties to church!”

Jeff: “Where am I supposed to wear them?”

Eli: “You wear ties on dates, silly!”

After dressing, we ran outside and he had already determined he wanted his mom to have a pink flower because it was pretty like her.  He gave it to her, and Mom was breath taken by this handsome little man in front of her who has come so far and honestly done so much for so many people.  The picture below is priceless and truly does say a thousand words about their love for one another.

Hope you don’t have a problem with interracial relationships  ;).  Sorry, I couldn’t resist.  But if you can’t tell that these 2 belong together, you need to get more than your eyesight checked.

His favorite restaurant is Chili’s, so he asked if he could borrow some money from me because he ran out.  As he put the money in his wallet, I asked him, “What are you supposed to do on your date?”

“Ummm…open doors for Mommy, pay for dinner, and tell her she’s pretty.”

“You got it buddy!  Bring her back before curfew.”

His favorite part of the night was he ate 2 bowls of Chicken Enchilada soup (that’s my 4-year-old boy!).  They had a great time.  We are honored yet again to be raising such a wonderful, precious, vibrant, resilient son.  He is a joy.  He is ridiculously handsome.  And he can light up a room like none other.

Blessed.

Travis Agnew

Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.