the last day of childhood

Christmas Day, 2004... I believe it was the last day of childhood. Why you ask? 'Cause for some reason, people at church today decided to start radically treating me like an adult. I mean, it's not weird that they have started treating me like an adult, but it's just the short amount of time in which they began doing this.

I was at church last Sunday, and I was even there Wednesday night. I was still "Hammy" and "Hammerhead" then. But today all of a sudden, people didn't recognize me, and I was called "Hamilton" in grown-up hoity toity voices. I mean, okay, these are people that have known me since I was 8. Regardless of how old I am now, I still expect them to treat me like I am younger than them. I don't want to be on the same level as them... to a degree...

You know, I want to grow up, definitely, but for some reason, being treated the same as those people at church just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's because of how spiritually mature they are??? I dunno. It's just something...

But seriously, Ms. Pam came up to me at church and said, "Hey, Hammy! Oh, excuse me--Hi, Hamilton. You're too old for Hammy now." I was like, "Um, no, you can still call me that." Then, her husband (I dunno if this is coincidence or what) LaVelle came up and was like, "Hey, Hammerhead! I mean, Hamilton." I just looked at him like he was insane. Did I have a gray hair? Do I need Botox? What's the dilly, yo? I even shaved this morning!

This lead me to the conclusion that yesterday was the last day of my childhood. But if my childhood did just end this week, it was probably Christmas Eve. I didn't get anything "fun" for Christmas yesterday. And to be quite honest, Christmas just felt like another day. I was talking to Missy last night, and she was like, "You know we are getting old now. You got stuff for your career." She was referring to the leather bag I got for student teaching.

It's true, unfortunately.

Anyway, one last thing that happened today at church that really made an impression on me. The congregational hymn today was "Yield Not to Temptation." One of my favorites because of the way it sounds. Today I came to appreciate it for more than that though. It will always be a song of inspiration to me because of these 2 lines:

To him that o'ercometh, God giveth a crown;
Through faith we shall conquer, though often cast down

A crown. It made me smile.

See, while this whole King Congruence psuedonym started out as a playful little name from 10th grade geometry class, I have always wanted to be that of a king... someone who is looked up to, admired, highly respected, and never intimidated. Well, I was certainly not made that way. This is, however, what I strive to be. I strive to be the best... and the words of this song help me believe that. If I can overcome my obstacles and do my best, I can be the best, and actually achieve that figurative crown... and the way to overcome my obstacles is only by faith... the knowledge that even though I can't see it, it will happen.

Hmm... yeah, I guess I have grown up a little...