We are Holdridge boys, and that means somethin’.

As I put the boys to bed last night, I felt like I just wanted to kiss them on the head, tell them I loved them, and leave the room with the flick of the light.

It was a long day with these two jokers.  Bad decisions, bad words, bad attitudes, bad behavior, bad reports from their teachers…you name it.  It seemed like every time they turned around, they were making another blunder...almost like they couldn’t help themselves.  It was so defeating and discipline felt futile.

As they laid in bed, I walked into the room after Heidi put them down with a straight face.  They looked at me expecting another round of admonition and correction.  And they would have been right if something didn’t shift in my spirit at the last second before I blew my top.

Deep in my spirit I heard a phrase: “We are Holdridge boys.”

So I went with it.

“Do you guys know what your last name is?”

“Holdridge.” Josh quickly responded.

“That’s right, so you know what your last name is?”

Caleb kicked in: “Holdridge.”

“Exactly.  Do you know my last name?”

“Jason.” Josh said with excitement with his first right answer still distracting him.

“Nope, my last name.” I replied.

“Dad.” Josh thought he nailed it that time.

“Nope.  My last name is Holdridge, too.  I got it from my Dad.  Did you know that Grampa’s last name is Holdridge?”

“No way!” Caleb sighed with excitement.

“Yep and that means somethin’.  Being a Holdridge boy means somethin’.”

They smirked like I just said something important, but they had no clue what it meant.

“Did you know that you two jokers used to live in Africa in an orphanage?  Your mom and I found out that your African mom and dad couldn’t take care of you anymore and so we flew over to Africa to make you our sons, to give you our name.  That was when you became Holdridge’s.”

I was all animated and they were tracking as best they could.

“Josh, do know what your middle name is?”

“DAVID!”

“Exactly…that is the name of your Grampa Cortner…you’re named after him.”

“Caleb, do know what your middle name is?”

“CHARLES!  I’m name after your dad!”

“That’s right!  You’re named after Grampa Holdridge.  You have their names and that means somethin’.”

“Ohhhhhhhhhh snap!” Caleb snickered.

“We have names and they are important.  When people think of our name I want them to think of good things, not bad things.  I want them to think of boys who are good, not naughty.  What are some words that you can think of that would come to people’s minds when they think of us Holdridge boys?  Like, ‘The Holdridge boys are friendly.’  ‘The Holdridge boys are…’

“Responsible!” Caleb chimed in.  (I think it’s one of the values of his Elementary school they’ve been drilling in his head…good job teachers!)

“Exactly…what else, Josh?”

“Kind.”

“Ooooo, that’s a good one.  What else, Caleb?”

“Respectful!” (Now I knew he was listing the Bushnell School Values.  Great ones by the way!)

“I like that one!  What’s another one, Josh?”

He paused for a bit, then he looked up with soft eyes: “Love.”

“Yes, Yes, Yes!  That’s what we want people to think about when they think of the name Holdridge.  Cause we’re Holdridge boys, and that means somethin’!”

By now they had heard me say that phrase about 12 times and every time I said it they were starting to say the last few words with me…and I went with it like I was leading a halftime speech in the movie “Remember the Titans”.

“But there are other words we don’t want to be known by.  We don’t want people to say, ‘The Holdridge boys are bad.’ Or “The Holdridge boys are liars.” Right?  We don’t want them to say, ‘the Holdridge boys are…’”

“Naughty.”

“That’s right…that wouldn’t be good.  What about you Josh?”

“Disobey.”

“Oooo, that’s right…and boy have you guys been naughty and disobedient today, haven’t you?”

“Yeah.”  They both said it in perfect synchronicity.

I kept it going.  “What else?”

“Not listening.”

“For sure…the Holdridge boys need to listen to their teachers and parents, right?”

They nodded their head.

“So that’s why our name is important…when people think about the Holdridge boys we want them to think that we are strong and caring and loving and friendly and obedient, not whiny and disrespectful and liars and mean.  Names mean something.”

“But our sisters are Holdridge’s, too!” Caleb blurted out.

“I know, that’s true, but I’m talking to you tonight and you’re my boys.  We’re the only boys in this house and we’re Holdridge boys…me included.  And that name my Grampa gave my dad that my dad gave me that I gave you is important.  It means something!”

“Why do you keep saying that?”  Caleb laughed.

“Because we’re Holdridge boys, and that means something!  We’re Holdridge boys, AND THAT MEANS SOMETHIN’, I TELL YA!  WE’RE HOLDRIDGE BOYS, AND THAT MEANS SOMETHING.  Say it with me…”

“We’re Holdridge boys, and that means something!”  We said it over and over again louder every time we said it until it was at a fever pitch. 

Just then I noticed Josh’s front tooth was pointing forward dying to be pulled out.  He’d been working on it all day since he loves getting teeth pulled.  As we were screaming: “We’re Holdridge boys, and that means something!” I shifted direction…

“We’re Holdridge boys, and that means something.  You wanna know what that means right now?”

They sat up straighter with eyes of wonderment. “What?”

“That we gotta rip Josh’s second front tooth out of his head!  Cause that’s what Holdridge boys gotta do!”

They shoot up outta bed and ran down to my bathroom.  We found the dental floss and I tied it around his front tooth.  With are barbaric yelp I yanked it out of his mouth and we went wild, I tell you.  They wrapped it in a zip lock bag and ran upstairs to put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy.

As I laid them down for the night, I shut off the light and bent down to give them a peck on their foreheads.

“Never forget, we’re Holdridge boys, and that means something.”

We said it a couple more times and then I left their room.  They kept saying it after I left.  I heard Caleb say, “Why was dad saying that over and over?”

They may not know what I meant, but I do, and I hope that someday they will come to know as well.  If our word is our bond, our name is our reputation…it means something and everything we do and say and are is meaningful.

There is power in our name, for the good or bad.  I hope the Holdridge name always stands for noble things.  I hope to keep teaching the boys who they are in Christ and who they are in our family…that’s the best chance for knowing who they are in this world.

“Cause we are Holdridge boys, and that means somethin’.”