At 13-years-old, Ayden truly was wise beyond his years. He was quiet and contemplative. As a fixer by nature, he had the ability to look beyond a situation or problem to see a solution. His way of addressing a situation or solving a problem may not have been conventional, but it was always well-thought out and logical.  He had a big imagination rooted in engineering. He brought me a picture one day of a machine he was designing.  This machine would fasten on the outside of the house and hook to a series of pipes under the yard.  With the flip of a switch, a solution would be released in the pipes under the yard to change the color of the grass to whatever color I wanted.  He assured me the solution would be environmentally friendly.  When I questioned his motivation, he simply replied, "Mama, you deserve better than brown grass in the winter."  

He loved all things Lego and building. While he loved building the Lego kits per the instructions, his favorite part was taking the structure apart and making something new. He also loved working on the job site with his Pappy and seeing a project come together. He learned early on that the clean-up part of a job site was just as important as the building process. He never complained about any task he was given at the job site, home, or school. He just went to work. 

When Ayden was eight-years-old, he came to me with a question.  He said, "I know I am suppose to ask Jesus in my heart, but I don't know why since I have known him all my life." I told him that I understood his confusion because he was raised in church. The Word of God was instilled in him at birth, and he very rarely missed church. We lived our faith everyday.  He said,  "No Mama.  I knew Jesus before I knew you.  I was with Jesus before he put me in your tummy." Talk about perspective.  After explaining the importance of repentance, he asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior.  He did have one request: to be baptized in November because that was the month he was born, so it made sense to him that it be the month he was reborn.

At 10-years-old, Ayden told me he needed a job.  When I asked him why, he told me he needed money to buy something.  Neither Ayden nor Keeton ever asked for "things." They always asked for tasks to earn the money they needed for whatever they wished to purchase, so even at 10, this was nothing new for Ayden.  When I asked him what he needed to buy, he very matter-of-factly said, "For my passport."  Ayden did not waste words.  His answers were always straight to the point. To get more information out of Ayden, I had to ask more questions.  "Ayden, why do you need your passport?" He simply replied, "If I am going to preach in Africa, I need a passport." "Ayden, you need to talk to Pappy about a job then." And he did.

While Ayden was talking to Pappy, I needed to have a conversation with God. I truly believe we all have a calling and purpose.  God designed each of us for a reason.  I just was not ready to release my 10-year-old to the world. I wasn't planning on keeping Ayden from his calling, but I did want to postpone the travel portion. My heart wasn't ready to let him go that far away from me. Meanwhile, he went to work and earned the money for his passport in a matter of a few days. 

Per Pappy's rules, Ayden had to wait until he was 12 to travel internationally for the first time, but he received his passport May 17, 2021. He travelled to Kenya for the first time in July 2022. He saw over 6,000 children give their hearts to Jesus. He had just returned from his second trip in Kenya five days prior to departing this world for heaven. While in Kenya, he spoke in schools, on the streets, in churches, and a pastors' meeting. While his messages were simple, he changed every single one of their lives.  He saw God move in amazing ways. He was called at 10-years-old, and he immediately stepped out to prepare for God to use him.  He was called to preach to the nations, and he did just that.

Ayden had a unique opportunity during his last trip to Kenya. He was able to spend a week on the Maasai Mara. While he did minister in schools and churches, he had time to go on the Maasai Mara and see the animals in their natural habitat. Ayden recently found a love of photography. Just one day prior to leaving for Kenya, he was given a camera. I had just enough time to show him the basics and told him he would just need to work with the camera to figure it out. He took over 1300 pictures of elephants, lions, giraffes, hyenas, hippos (well, one hippo), warthogs, etc. Most people would just be in awe of seeing God's creatures up close. And yes, Ayden was very excited about the animals, but he realized he could take this new found love of photography and this opportunity to be in natural habitats and use it to help fund his mission trips.