A Real Man Raises Real Men

Last night I couldn’t sleep.  Correction.  Wouldn’t sleep.  I was enthralled in a great read.   You see, little by little we’ve been moving stuff from my fiancee’s home into mine and, this week, it was a box full of his journals. Lots of journals.  I’m in awe over the diligent writer he was, from the time he was a little boy until he reached adulthood.  I’m also in awe over the things I read.  (Of-course, I had his permission).  The words of Charles Dickens holds true.  “A boy’s story is the best that is ever told.”

Sure, he recorded a lot of mundane tasks, “Today I played with ‘so and so’.  I woke up.  Stared out the window. Ate breakfast…”  But I also  read extraordinary things. Things that made my heart melt, and eyes cry.  His teenage dilemmas and thoughts.  The choices he made and his reliance upon the Lord.  His appreciation for the righteous things in life, and his understanding of the happiness they bring.   I was spellbound as I watched his developing character unfold on paper and, most importantly, his integrity.  Proof that good little boys become astonishing grown men. I went to sleep smiling; holding a new respect and admiration for the man I love.  He, like every man that has ever existed, has built his character upon years of implementation.  Thankfully, he chose to focus on traits and habits of magnificence rather the mediocrity.

It has been said that a boy is the only thing God can use to make a man.  And, so I ask the father of every boy, “What kind of man are you raising?”   Like it or not, your example is creating a cycle that will likely be repeated, and how you live will impact the future husband, future father, and future leader your son will (or will not) be.   Certainly he has his agency and will choose what he desires, but no peace of mind can replace looking back without regret – knowing you lived your best.

The cycle continues:  Little boys become men and little girls become women.  Regardless of the different influences she encounters, I will always be the example of what a woman should be to my daughter, simply because I am her mother.  For this reason, I try my best to live right.  Should I be blessed with sons,  their father will always be the example of what a man should be, simply because he is their father.   I’m incredibly grateful I’ve found a man that, not only they can admire, but I can too.  I see the life he has lived, the life his father has lived, and the clear example he will set for my sons to live.

Through their actions, every parent chooses the cycle they set for their children.  What cycle are you creating?