Tuesday, 4:35 P.M.

Neal Pollard

He sat, reclining, sleeping as I drove
This man of 21 I was helping to move
Though manlike now his features, as he rested
By memories and reflections I was bested.

It could not be that that little boy was grown
How had these moments come and quickly gone?
I’d held this colicky baby just a day or two before
And watched just yesterday a child of three or four.

Some things still have not changed as years have fled
His daredevil ways, no path he fears to tread
His happy-go-lucky outlook, positive frame of mind
His heart of gold, his way of treating everyone so kind

I watched him sleep, assured whatever his test
He’d go to God for help, as he’s always faced the rest
A humble man who knows on God he must depend
Who’s willing to go wherever He may send.

I felt a little sad I’d soon be engaged in goodbye-ing,
Anticipating there might even be a little crying,
But something that kept me comforted and steady,
Was knowing that my son had made himself ready.

Ready for the challenges, ready to learn and grow,
Ready to preach and serve and teach and show
Jesus to the saints and sinners he’d soon meet
And stay, like Mary, at the Savior’s feet.

Dear God, I thank you for those times so dear,
They passed by almost as fast as they did appear
I gave him back to You when he first was born,
I give him again, full-hearted, not forlorn.

Please watch over Him as he ministers to others,
To the lost, the stranger, the sisters and the brothers,
May he keep You close through every hill and vale,
So no foe or fear or faithless fiend can prevail.