…turns 7 today! I always wanted a son. I used to dream about playing, wrestling, and laughing with a boy who enjoyed life with me. My dad and I have a great relationship and I wanted a son to experience the same with. Seven years ago I received that gift. Cobe Robert Grandstaff entered my life and swept it by storm. He is more than anything I dreamed or imagined. For a dad who grew up in an all boy home, this was something special. I never thought that my son at such a young age would become my best friend.
It’s always a little scary having a son and being in ministry. I should know, I’m a preachers kid. A preachers kid sometimes works ok, but most often becomes the devil child 
Since the day he entered this world, life has been full of joy. Tandy and I love our family, I guess like most people would say. But we do everything TOGETHER. I mean everything. We wanted to experience life TOGETHER with our children, allowing them to see life and the world with us. We choose to do this praying that they will grow up understanding the joy, purpose and reason God created us. We do every trip, vacation, event, retreat, summer camp and even missions trip TOGETHER, because we love having them around.
(Cobe and Cayden in Jamaica with us)
Cobe has been everything I wanted. For starters I named him after my favorite basketball player – KOBE Bryant. I hoped that he would be ok with this when he got older, but boy did it ever work in my favor My kid loves basketball. He loves the Lakers and loves Kobe Bryant. (I probably had a little something to do with that) He watches the games with me and wears all the gear with me. (shoes, shorts, jersey, etc.) When we play video games he is always the Lakers and Kobe Bryant. He get’s up on Saturday morning to watch the game TIVO’d from the night before (instead of cartoons????). And last year my personal dream and his came true…
WE GOT TO MEET KOBE BRYANT AND GO IN THE LOCKER ROOM WITH HIM!!!
They ran an article in the LA Times (HERE) about a boy in the stands who held up a sign saying “KOBE MY PARENTS NAMED ME AFTER YOU” (Tandy’s Idea) We got to go in the locker room and even got put on Kobe Bryant’s official web page (HERE)
His birthday cake today will be the Lakers logo, his gift is a new Kobe jersey and he is saving all his money to pour a concrete slab in our backyard for a basketball court. GOD YOU COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE KIND THAN TO GIVE ME THIS KID!!! He’s after my own heart:) He even calls me at work to tell me who has been traded in the NBA. MY OWN ESPN HOTLINE at 7! What son does that???
Life has been one exciting story with Cobe, it’s seems everywhere we go with him we get to do something amazing. He’s kind of like a good luck charm
I really can’t wait to come home everyday to play with him. We wrestle, play video games TOGETHER, bike, skateboard, jump on the trampoline, and play basketball TOGETHER.
Cobe has the most tender spirit and a heart as big as the sun. He asks about helping people when we see them in Atlanta and is very intrigued and curious to learn the stories found in scripture. Just over a year ago I had the privilege to be with him as he decided to trust God with his life and allow me the honor of baptizing him. (one of my most humbling moments as a parent)
It’s hard to look at him as he grows faster than I can blink and wonder where that little boy was. I only pray that our life TOGETHER is as precious to him as it is to me. I hope we always have this bond. I hope and pray that he always comes to me. I hope and pray that I will be the dad he needs me to be. I pray more than anything that he sees God through me.
I love this boy with everything I have. My life would never be the same without him in it.
Happy Birthday Cobe! I am extremely proud and honored to be called your dad. You fill me with such joy. Every night when I lay you down and tell you… “your my best friend”. I mean it with all my heart!
Tags: baskteball, birthday, family, KB24, kobe bryant, lakers
