I had this dream last night! My boys were jumping on these rocks by a lake. The rocks were high, kind of like they are in this part of the country. The rocks were also slippery and were at the immediate border of a lake. I watched them jump from rock to rock, I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t in the picture completely but observed from the side. They were not grown but were adolescents.
Suddenly my youngest son plummeted into the water. My heart quickened with concern. Was he o.k.? For a split second my heart stops and I anticipate jumping in to save him.
At that moment he surfaces and begins to swim. I’m relieved as I let out my breath.
When does this feeling leave you as a mom, when you no longer hold your breath . Even with grown boys men, I think about them. I know I’m not alone. As a mom of men, watching them now… and back then, half the time I watched with one eye open.
You get better at knowing when to step up and when to step back.
When they were little, I would see them heading towards danger and my mom genes would kick in. Running, while shouting “no!”, they would hear the seriousness of my voice and immediately stop. As they grew older they took more and more risk. Pretty soon I was no longer looking out for their every move and I began to see a shift from boys to men.
I saw my “men” begin to look out for me. They would carry my groceries and stare down any man that looked at me the wrong way. I remember one time there was a bunch of construction workers on a roof in our neighborhood. The boys had made a secret plan to walk behind me with glares directed at the men on the roof. I wouldn’t have even noticed if it weren’t for some suspicious whispers between the two of them that I questioned.
I proudly took this as an entry for them to manhood. I knew they were protecting me and one day they would protect their wives and families. They had learned this from their dad. They had learned to guard what was precious to them. I was proud and quickly sucked up a tear. Pride, fear, love, all bound up in one big explosive mom bundle. Not wanting that big package to unwrap itself in the middle of the street, I put my hand on their shoulders and said, “thank you men.”
With a breathe that filled their chest , shoulders held further back, we proceeded to our destination. I catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye. The boys looked at each other with a mission accomplished gleaming in their eyes.
So What Does All This Mean:
- There are things worth protecting
- Acknowledge those steps in manhood
- Reaffirms following a good leader
- Compliment them for caring for someone other than themselves
- Even when your boys become men, they still care about what you think. They will always need to know that you are for them.
Maybe there’s a young man in your life that needs to hear, they are heading in the right direction, to be the man that God is calling them to be. Hope you have a blessed weekend!
Parents, do you see a shift in our country, that discourages honor in our young men? Thank you for reading, I feel honored for your time. Please sign up for my newsletter.
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