Good boy into a fine man...

Dear Jamey boy, my joy!

Here you can see a "dog-ear" copy of a photo of you as a tiny baby sleeping on your Papa's chest, and your Papa sleeping snoozin' too!

This photo was taken in what we called the TV room, and we were on the fold-out bed couch. That fold out bed is where your Grandmother Renwick Mardel Conger (Manship) Shambach used to sleep when she came once a year from Mexico to the D.A.R. Convention in April and visited with us during her stay.

Yet also that fold out bed is where a great man of God, William J. Federer, slept when he stayed at our home on 24 and 25 February anno domini 2000, just before he served as the Master of Ceremonies for the George Washington "Man of the Millennium" Book Festival that was broadcast nationwide by C-SPAN TV.

Mr. Federer is a brilliant scholar, yet a humble servant of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has compiled the wonderful reference book "America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations". During the GW Book Festival and since, I have said that next to the Bible this is a book that every American should have in their library or better, on their bedside table.

Someday, I pray to be able to introduce you to my good friend, Bill Federer, and have him inscribe some bit of wisdom in the front of his great work as he autographes one of his books for you, my beloved boy.

That year when he visited in our home and held you in his arms, he was a candidate for the United States Congress in the Saint Louis, Missouri area.

And here my son, you are eating "my popcorn". One of the things we did was share. When you were a baby I would feed you with a baby spoon, and then when you began to feed yourself, you were so sweet and wanted to "return the favor" and feed me. So we got into the practice of me feeding you a carrot, and you feeding me a carrot, or me feeding you a piece of popcorn, and you feeding me a piece of popcorn...

Wait a minute there pardner, you are feeding YOU, not me... where's mine?

Yet you were taught by your loving Papa to be a caring and sharing soul. One time I was so well pleased with you my son was when you were not yet able to walk and in the nursery at the church on Washington Street. A little boy who was already walking was holding a big ball. A little girl who also was walking came up and hit the ball from the little boy's hands, so he began to cry.

I will forever remember watching you as you looked up at the boy crying and then looked over at the ball where it stopped under a crib, and you crawled over to the ball under the crib and pushed the ball back to the boy and lifted the ball up to him whereupon the boy stopped crying.

Son, when you were crawling, you were caring.

You were also taught to make others happy by giving up your toys if another child wanted it, because you could go find another and have just as much fun with it. Further, I explained where in this world there were bullies who would take your things or your toy, time and time again, usually a bully will get tired after two times if they were unable to get you upset by taking your toys.

Some people are just mean, no matter what their age, whether a mother or a man, as much as they may want your toy, really more than that, they want to steal your joy.

Don't let anyone steal your joy, my boy! Remember James 1:2, "Count all joy your trials and tribulations..."

Your sweet and joyful spirit may be the power of God that changes that bully into a beauty.

You are a good boy who will grow into a fine man if you continue to follow your Father's teachings, both from Heaven and on Earth.

I love you son, now, then and forever.

Your PaPa,

James

James 1:2