My 4 year old son Ethan is getting so big. He’s been really into the Transformers and sports lately… and his newest fascination is with going outside to explore the world. He loves to get out and play with the bigger kids from our street, considering that he’s only 4 and the youngest of the bunch is about 8 years old, it’s a little unnerving for me and my wife. We do enjoy watching him play, trying to be one of the big guys. He can definitely run as fast as they do, but he’s so much shorter and inexperienced.
Tonight my son was paying football in the street with some of the older neighbor kids. My wife and I sat watching and enjoying his new found freedom. But tonight was quite interesting. I called my wife over to watch him squatting down for the “hike” and she came over just in time to see him do that a few times, get in the way, then get upset because the ball didn’t come to him. Finally… after a few incomplete passes… there was a hand off. It went to none other than Ethan Tomlinson… he took the hand off cut right, then left and ran down the sideline toward the speed bump end zone. He ran as fast as he could and the kids couldn’t touch him. He crossed the line, hit the gutter and SPLAT! He ate pavement. My wife, who was closest, sitting on her bike, rode to his aid. One of the neighbors started yelling, “Ethan fell!” and proceeds to pick Ethan up and carry him past his mother, to me. I find him a little shaken with a few tears and a few scrapes. After handing him over to mom, they head indoors to do a minor cleaning job on the wounds.
It was bath time and I came into bathe Ethan and our daughter Avery. I asked Ethan how his scrapes were… he said ‘okay’. I was excited for him and I wanted him to know I was proud of his touchdown… hopefully that would take away the sting of his scrapes. “Ethan, I saw you score a touchdown! That was awesome!” His response was one that I hope I never forget, “Yeah, touchdowns make you bleed”. This made my wife and I laugh. It was such a smart response from a 4 year old. We are proud of his toughness and willingness to get in there and scrap it out. I almost forgot… after he was cleaned up he went back out and tried to play some more! I was proud.
I posted Ethan’s comment to Facebook. I immediately got a lot of responses. One of them simply said, “Derik, that will preach”. I thought about that comment and I realized that it says a lot about life.
When I think about it… this is easy to relate to Jesus and what He did on the Cross. He scored a “touch down” upon His birth on earth and in His death and Resurrection, securing for us salvation. In this deed, He died, shedding His blood. Truly, touchdowns make you bleed.
the glory project 