growing up

Boys grow up to be men.

And as a father, I am a builder of men. I am a sculptor, an artist. And even though I know that it is God who is truly doing the work, I also know that I play a part. So much of what my boys will think of when they think of a man, will be pictured... fleshed out by me. So here I am with my men-in-the-making, finding myself being challenged to be a good father, to be a good husband, and to be a good man.

I see them watching me, following my every move, my every action. They long for my attention to be focused on them. They love that. And right now, even though I am their daddy, I am also their best buddy. I love that.

I have seen them mimick many of the things that I do on more than one occasion. Some of the good things, some of the not so good things. My actions teach.

But what I find the most intriguing is when I see myself in them. It is especially easy when there is a distinct family resemblance, but I think that we all see things a little deeper than that when we look at our offspring.

I know that my life could have taken many different directions. And when I look at my children, I see many different possibilities, many different potentials.

I mean, lets face it: It is only by the Grace of God that I am where I am. There are so many bad paths that I could have... and did turn down, that it is a true miracle of the miracle worker that there is any desire in me to please my creator.

There is a verse that gets often misinterpreted, that goes something like this, "bring up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." The part that says, "...the way he should go...", would be more properly interpreted, "...the way he is bent..." You see, we are all bent toward destruction, and it is only by turning from that bent, that there is life.

Now I know that those paths that were open for me, are going to be open and cleared out for my boys: my boys that I hope so much will grow up to be Men of God. And I hope, and pray that God will keep them from those paths... unless it is only by going down those paths that they will see their need for a Saviour.