Who’s The Man?

Who knows when it starts or how long it lasts, but it is an integral part of turning little boys into godly men.

That mysterious conviction is what causes the farmer’s son to think that growing corn is the coolest thing on earth, or what makes the veterinarian’s son love to work with animals. And it is what made me as a boy want to please my dad and try to emulate him. It wasn’t until I was about 14 or 15 that I began to see his imperfections and to understand the looming curse of mortality that was upon him. My dad was just a man of temporal flesh. He was going to die…just like everyone else. And I realized that he was not perfect. But by the time reality set in, he had instilled in me enough integrity and morality for God to form my soul into what I am today. This might be the single most important task of parenthood―to lead by example, to elicit emulation. You see, you don’t have to be taught not to steal if you see your father chase down a thief and throw him to the ground to be hauled off to jail. When I saw this, I was compelled to stay on his side of the law. I always loved the Bible stories he read to us at night, so I just naturally grew up with a desire to be a godly man and to be the same kind of dad for my kids.

So, show those boys that you are on top of the situation—that you can diagnose a disease and save a sick cow, or you make that hard sale that propels the company into the big time, put a beautiful finish on an old truck, or cheerfully deliver the mail on time. Make them proud to be their father’s son.