Logan and I had an overnight trip to Washington DC a few weeks ago. The purpose of the trip was to get away as father and son to talk about biblical manhood and to challenge Logan in a few areas of his life as he is getting older.
We visited many sights and monuments around Washington and attended the Redskins vs. Giants game on Monday night. (Thanks to our friend Eric for scoring some great seats) We had a great time, did a lot of talking and made some wonderful memories. Here are some highlights from the trip.
We began Sunday night by reading a verse out of the bible:
"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father."
Colossians 3:17
This verse would serve as our foundation for the weekend. We had a great discussion around how our actions, words, deeds, everything are to be done in a way that glorifies God and honors Him. We talked practically about how we can live out this verse on a daily basis with our friends, family, classmates and teachers. Logan was very thoughtful about how he can honor God by honoring those around him. He has a very tender heart that allows him to easily think of ways to serve and love others. He made some great suggestions on how to honor God in deed as we were in DC.
He suggested he could give up his seat on the metro to someone who didn't have one. He also talked about thanking people who otherwise may not be thanked for doing their jobs. He said this would honor God by showing love to the people God had created.
We also looked at the fruit that our lives should produce as we live in a way that honors God:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Galatians 5:22-23
Logan was able to make the connection between honoring God with our words and actions and how that would produce the fruit of the spirit.
As we visited the monuments and sights around Washington we talked a lot about the fruit of the spirit and how they are displayed through action.
We visited the Vietnam wall, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. We talked about sacrifice and how Jesus laid down His life for us so that we could have a relationship with Him. These memorials served to remind us that ordinary men laid down their life for our country and our freedom. In light of that, how much more did Jesus do by laying down his life for our souls.
We visited Arlington National Cemetery as well. As we walked passed thousands of tombstones we had the chance to talk about sacrifice, faithfulness, love, and self-control. We were able to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. This was a special ceremony that served to demonstrate the ultimate in honor, faithfulness and self-control. The guards who faithfully walk 21 paces back and forth in front of the tomb and pause 21 seconds at each turn for a fellow soldier they never knew was powerful. Seeing this ceremony allowed Logan and I to talk about integrity and discipline. It was a powerful demonstration that will surely stick in both of our minds.
We had a great day together followed by a fun night at the football game. Logan got to attend his first NFL game and see many of his favorite players up close. A friend of ours got great tickets for us and we were able to go down on the field before the game. Even the football game served as a reminder of honoring God with our word and deeds. We talked about teammates holding each other accountable and how they would practice for months before playing a game on the weekend.
We looked at Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."
We discussed the importance of relationships with other Christians and how those relationships would serve to encourage, challenge and sharpen our relationship with the Lord. Accountability is important in the life of a man and it is fundamental in the life of a man whose desire is to be a man of God.
It was a great weekend and one that I will treasure for a long time. I am proud of the young man Logan is becoming and I look forward to continuing to guide him in to biblical manhood.
Here are a few highlights from the weekend.
Here are a few pictures of the monuments we visited. Logan really liked the Vietnam wall and statues since his grandaddy is a Vietnam Veteran. He also enjoyed learning about Lincoln and the Gettysburg address that took place right down the road from where we live now. 
Logan is a tough kid who loves sports, and doing "boy" stuff. At the same time he is also very tender and affectionate. As a result, this is how we spent most of our time walking around the Mall area.
After the Mall we ate lunch and then headed over to Arlington. This was my first visit to the cemetery. It was a bit overwhelming; the emotions of gratitude, pride and patriotism. There are over 400,000 service members, statesmen and presidents buried there.
After the Mall we ate lunch and then headed over to Arlington. This was my first visit to the cemetery. It was a bit overwhelming; the emotions of gratitude, pride and patriotism. There are over 400,000 service members, statesmen and presidents buried there.
The Highlight of the Arlinton Vist was the Tomb of the Unknowns.
I bought Logan a coin for the Tomb of the Unknowns to serve as a reminder of the fruit we talked about: faithfulness, self-control and love.
After spending the day walking around DC we headed over to the stadium to see the game.
We had tremendous seats and the usher let us go down onto the field before the game so Logan could get up close with the players. It took him a few minutes to settle in and enjoy it. It was his first time in an NFL stadium and it overwhelmed him quite a bit when we first walked in. Once he took it all in he was good to go and had a great time.
Walking up to the Stadium and then down onto the field!
Santana Moss, Logan's favorite player and the receivers warming up.
Moss!
Logan's uncle Rob let him borrow a Chris Cooley jersey to wear to the game. When the ends came out for warm-ups Chris came over and gave Logan a wink and a smile.
London Fletcher and the linebackers warming up
When you are the only kid on the sidelines you get a lot of attention. The ushers, and adults were making sure he could see and one of the officials, Tony Steratore, stopped by to say hello as well.
He also hung out next to this NFL photographer. They guy was very nice and told Logan all about his camera and let him pick out some players for him to take pictures of.
We got to see the Redskins marching band, the Sean Taylor memorial and a few celebrities along the sideline. Former Giant player, Michael Strahan and Yankees pitcher, CC Sabathia both hung out on the sidelines next to us before the game.
The Skins take the field!
He didn't even make it out of the parking lot.
A great weekend for us both!
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