Several weeks ago, as my two sons started the baseball season, I realized how poor a job I’ve been doing in working with them on the field. After all it is part of my job to teach them how to play ball, and to carry on the legacy of their father who was, though you may doubt this, once lauded as the “human vacuum cleaner”. Ok, maybe it was actually self-dubbed. (But I thought I heard it catch on with a couple of people in the packed-out bleachers of Girard playground.)
On one Sunday then, I called most of the athletically gifted people in my cell phone and invited them to play ball on the very fields that I lit up back inna day. Most were unavailable on such short notice, but we did end up going out with a veritable PhD of baseball. You may know Dr. Fezio. The boys had a grade A baseball clinic that day and the rest of the season felt the impact of it.
That’s a small illustration of the point, but here goes: do you look for opportunities to be a part of and influence the lives of young boys in the church? And, though I obviously mean first and foremost by your example in worship and in feverish note-taking during sermons and in holding open doors and helping elderly ladies get out of their cars. But outside of church day stuff, have you made an effort to attach and be blessed by and a blessing to the families in the church?
This is a great list of things that dads are to aim at as they raise their boys, but guess what – you can help us do this stuff!
When Todd Tucker comes to my house to help fix something, I frequently think, “it’s just a matter of a few years and I’m going to ask somebody like Todd to bring Hunter out for a day of apprenticeship to learn some things that will serve his wife (Lord willing!) one day.” He’s convinced he knows who that is, by the way, but my lips are sealed.
Guys, bring your influence for the good of the local Body. Barge in on families in the church and make your presence felt and raise boys even before you have your own.
