Manhood
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Work. We have to do it. We have to do it to provide for our families. We pack our lunches and head off for the day. We board a plane and are gone for days at a time. We leave behind our families and pray that God sees fit for us to return. The people we leave behind are more valuable than the cargo in our bags. They are more important than the briefs in our cases. We don’t always remember this. We are thinking only of the work that lies ahead of us.
Focus. We are so focused on what lies ahead that we don’t see what is left in the rear view mirror. We miss the longing of our sons who only want us to take a second to play with them if only for a second. We miss the look in our daughters’ eyes hoping to be reminded that they are relevant. That they are beautiful.
I fold balloons on weekends at kids’ birthday parties. Girls usually choose flowers, hearts or butterflies. Boys – you guessed it – like swords. I have also had boys request guns, bombs and once, a grenade! Actually, as soon as I make one balloon weapon, everyone wants one, including most of the girls. On the rare occasion when a boy does ask for a flower, heart or pink balloon of any shape, the parent will usually step in and say “no, he wants a black sword or he really wants a different color.” In fact, mothers do this as much as fathers. Why is that? What’s wrong with a boy expressing a desire for something beautiful? I love to trip them up. Once in a while when a kid asks for a balloon weapon, I also make them a pink heart and tell them their dad asked for it.
