Watching Scotty Grow

I need to say this as a disclaimer. I was not a Bobby Goldsboro fan growing up although millions of people were. His song, Honey, a macabre sonnet on the death of his wife, is probably my least favorite radio song of all time, but it was a huge hit so people loved it. It probably came down to this- I just didn't like his haircut. I'm now at almost nine weeks without a visit to my barber so I don't have room to talk. Can you get more superficial than not liking someone due to their hairstyle? Well, I was pretty shallow as a kid.

But the other morning, I remembered a reason to recall Bobby Goldsboro with some actual fondness. Every time I go to WAL-MART now, I go at 7 AM to avoid the crowds. So, to reward myself, I listen to Coach Hawley's Groovy Tunes CDs. Several days ago, on Volume 7, it advanced to SONG 8 which was Watching Scotty Grow by........ Bobby Goldsboro. I smiled and may have even sung along. Goldsboro's recording of the Mac Davis song spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard Country charts and also did well on the Billboard Easy Listening and Hot 100 lists. What I remember about the song was that Dad loved it. You see, the blonde haired kid at the top of the page is my brother Scott but back then, he was known as Scotty. And Dad loved it because he loved my brother and it made a connection. The song is simple but catchy; it's about a father's routine with his four year old at bedtime and how he longs for some more time with his wonderful boy who he adores. He even invokes our Heavenly Father, although in grammatically incorrect fashion, in the tune's final line:Me and God are watching Scotty grow.

I mentioned above  that Scott outgrew Scotty but my father didn't outgrow loving his, and Moms's, youngest. (Interestingly, Mac Davis wrote the song for his son Scotty while Bobby Goldsboro's and his wife's only child was a daughter.) I'm having the chance to spend more time reading the scriptures during this time of quarantine and one thing I'm more and more aware of is God's love for His children. There's 1 John 3:1 for example:See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!And then there's Psalm 113, vs 13:As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.And how about Zephaniah 3, vs 17:
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.Our God and Father delights in us! Look at the words used there; love, compassion, gladness, rejoice, singing, lavished on the best family description ever, children of God. That's a very small sampling of scripture with that theme. And that's the one thing that came through for me in that song. If a singer can express adoration for his fictitious son who actually was the son of his friend, how much are we loved by the one who breathed life into all of us? We don't always act like we believe it though, do we? My little brother had no doubt about the love of his earthly dad. Neither should we with the Eternal Father.

To listen to Bobby Goldsboro's Watching Scotty Grow, click or copy/paste the link below:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-crFnam9rE


Applicable quote of the day:
“Until you have a son of your own, you will never know the joy, the love beyond feeling that resonates in the heart of a father as he looks upon his son.” 
– Kent Nerburn

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
E-mail me at shawley@westburychristian.org