Cannon at 7 Months

Cannon,

You were born with a purpose, to bring glory to God in everything you say, do,
and think, that hell may be less populated when you die. I hope that through our
relationship you might learn from me better how to do that. I will outline a few
important things in this letter

God, a relationship with God is the number one most important thing. He will
come above everything and everyone else. We read in Colossians chapter one that,
everything on this earth, including you, was created through Him, by Him, and for Him.
It is through our knowledge of Him that we are strengthened with His power, not
destructive power, but power that produces the patience and endurance we need to
live this life. Your parents know all about Him and I am confident they will teach you
well.

Guns, you need to have a thorough working knowledge of guns. Guns are like
fire; it can cook your food and keep you warm or burn you. The best way to be safe
with guns is to be comfortable and familiar with them. I hope to be able to get you your
first gun, to teach you safety and take you hunting. I love to hunt, I hope you will too,
some of the best conversations I have with the Lord are while I am hunting. Gun are
also good for self-defense, these situations are rare, but sometimes unavoidable. There
are times to use guns and time to put them away. They can also definitely be fun, and
as soon as you’re old enough, you and I will have some fun!

Guts, I heard Dave Ramsey say the other day that he believes the number one
most important characteristic of successful people was perseverance. It’s not about
your ability to go through life without making mistakes, but what you do after you’ve
made one. The fact that you will make mistakes doesn’t define your character; it defines
you as a man. What does define your character is what you do after you’ve made a
mistake.

Cannon, there are many important things in life, but I especially look forward to
teaching you about God, guns, and guts.

-Uncle Matthew

Cannon
Uncle Matthew summed it up pretty well but I wanted to have the last say (one day you’ll
realize that’s how marriage works).

Even though you’re pretty young right now, I feel like we have a lot in common. Lets
take our family for instance. On December 13th your mommy and daddy told all of us that
you were going to be coming into the family as a new addition. The very next day, Uncle
Matt asked me to marry him and now I was going to be a new addition to the family too!

Another thing that we have in common is the timing that you and I actually became part
of the family. Even though we didn’t quite become members of the family on the same
day, it was only a few weeks apart. (And secretly, I thought your mommy could have
made that happen on the same day!)

Something else that we have in common is how much we love our new family. I know
you can’t talk yet but let’s be honest, you smile all the time, you’re great at cuddling,
and you like watching baseball. These are all great non-verbal signs that you love your
family.

I’m sure as you grow up we’ll have a lot in common also. If you ever go hunting with
your Uncle Matt, chances are I’ll be tagging a long too. That’s right, I like to hunt. I also
like baseball, camping, fishing, and horses. And since you’re a boy, there’s bound to be
something on that list that you like to do also!

For right now we can just stick with getting to know each other and getting to know our
new family…from what I can tell, we have a great family that God has blessed the both
of us with!

Your favorite (and for now, your only) aunt,
Mandy