Like Father, Like Son

“Mama, remember that tank you got me for Christmas when I was a kid?” our son, Trevor, said to me over the phone yesterday. I had asked him what our grandson, 11-year-old Bradley, was up to, and, by way of explanation he had brought up the toy.

Of course I remembered! It wasn’t just a toy, but a miniature replica of a real army tank with rolling tracks that carried it realistically around the house, climbing over books, shoes, or anything else in its path. Young Trevor had seen it in a store and coveted it fiercely. If I remember right, it cost more than we usually spent on toys, but it was his special present that year, and he has kept it all this time.

“Well, Bradley wanted it to play with, but something is broken about it,” he went on. “But I found one on Craigslist still in the box, new from 1980 or so. We got it and now all Brad does is play with it!”

A chip off the old block. I could just see my grandson, so like his father with the same red hair, lying on the floor engrossed in imaginative adventures with the fascinating plaything. Trevor had spent countless hours the same way in the timeless world of boyhood, playing with racing sets, a favorite toy called “Chutes Away”, or that tank.

When he left home after college, the tank was a treasured possession that went with him. A couple of times over the years, Trevor has pulled it from his closet and showed it to me in a sentimental moment.. (This is the son who hangs on to a camouflage jacket from 20 years ago and still uses the same faded, paperback Bible from his teen years.)

“Well, you said Bradley is always asking what you did as a boy, so now he knows,” I laughed. Brad is incredulous that his dad survived without Wii games, computers, and video games. But when Trevor spins tales of hunting, fishing, and exploring the woods of his rural childhood, Brad is actually a bit envious.

I am thankful that not only has our son kept his Bible, he has also kept the faith he grew up with. Trevor and Jennifer are instilling in Bradley and his brother, Kyle, a foundation for their futures by attending church as a family and living by godly principles in front of them. Now that is equipping them with something more powerful than a military tank!