Be a Man! A real Man!

A while back, I was on my way to run an errand when I witnessed a serious car accident. A lady inexplicably ran full speed into a little car in front of her that was stopped at a stop light. I could tell that a number of people were hurt, so I jumped out of my car to go and offer any assistance that I could. An off duty police officer was on the scene. He went to assist the lady who had been hit from behind because she was obviously in a lot of pain with broken bones. He asked me to go check on the car who had caused the accident. When I got to the car there was a 5 year old little girl climbing around the car crying hysterically. The mother had a broken arm so she asked if I would hold her daughter and calm her down. I picked up the little girl and took her over to the ambulance to be checked out. Once she was cleared I held her and tried to distract her from the scary scene around her. She was a beautiful little girl with blond hair blue eyes. She looked a lot like my little daughter.

The thing that disturbed me most about the whole situation was what was scary to the girl. It was not the accident, her mom's broken arm, or the lady screaming in pain in the car that was hit. It was not the noise of the jaws of life that were cutting the lady out of the car, or the sirens and lights from the emergency vehicles. What she was most scared of was her father showing up. "My dad is going to be so mad at my mom!" She said through tears. "He will just be happy you guys are alright" I assured her. She responded, "No, he always yells at us, for everything, he is going to get so mad at us when we get home. I hope he does not hurt my mom".

Right at that moment her father arrived on the scene. Without sharing too many stereo types let me just say that he seemed to be trying in every way I can think of: the way he dressed, what he drove, the way he walked, even the way he spoke, to show he was a "real tough guy, a real man". When his daughter saw him she burried her head in my shoulder and said a line that has stuck with me ever since, "Oh no, my dad is here".

OH NO MY  DAD IS HERE!!!!!! That is what a dad appearing on such a scene made his daughter say. "Oh No!"

Christ is the ultimate example of what a real man is.

He walked up to me and his daughter and said "Give me my %$#&^*%$ daughter". Trying not to judge the guy too harshly I handed over this beautiful little girl to him and said, "Do you want to know what is sad bro, look around, the scariest thing on this scene right now to your daughter, is you, why don't you calm down and comfort your child."

As I have pondered that situation and that line, "Oh no my dad is here", I have come to realize something about what it means to be a real man.           



A real man makes others feel safe not scared.

I am not saying that real men are weak pacifists . I am saying that real men use their strength to bring peace, comfort and security to those around them not fear and trepidation. 

Have you thanked the real men in your life?
Have you thanked those who make things better, safer, more peaceful by their mere presence. If not maybe share this article with them and thank them this Father's day. I think it is time that we start to honor real men, and teach younger men what real men really are.

Happy Father's day to all of the real men in My life. Jay Martin, Shawn Martin, Shane Martin, Sheldon Martin, Chad Martin, Dustin Smith, Bill Paxton, Chris Paxton, Matt Booterbaugh, Adam Miller, Ryan Miller, Garry Phelps, Kent Bothwell, LeRoy hope, all of my uncles. Happy Fathers day! I have truly been blessed to be surrounded by real men!

Christmas is about Receiving

Today in church I had a wonderfully spiritual experience. With the beautiful music of the choir behind me I began to look at the worshipful faces of a congregation of people that I love with all of my heart. I saw a lady who was battling a serious case of cancer huddled with her husband and three little girls singing a hymn. A few rows back I saw a man in a sling whose shoulder had been replaced a few days earlier, in obvious pain, but who came to church anyway to worship his Savior and watch his wife and son sing in the choir. Sitting next to me was a brother who lost his job, blew out his knee, had reconstructive surgery on that knee and then had a sinus surgery all in one month. I saw a man sitting alone in the back whose wife has endured five back surgeries in the last two years. I saw a couple whose beautiful little daughter was just diagnosed with a rare brain disorder holding their precious little girl in the back. I saw a few people who had recently lost their parents to death, I saw people who had lost there job, I saw people who I know are worried about a wayward child. I saw people who were lonely and widowed, I saw people who had been betrayed and abandoned, I saw a couple cry their way through silent night who had just lost a baby the week before. I also saw a congregation full of sinners, which definitely included myself. As my eyes moved from face to face I saw something in each of their eyes, it was hope, it was conviction, and most of all it was love.  They truly loved their Savior.

I began to feel a deep gratitude for my Savior and I began to ponder the gifts His life extended to each of those lovely people in the congregation who sang of His birth with worshipful love in their eyes.

I pondered how His atonement allowed all of us sinners to repent and move on from our mistakes with the promise that He would remember our sins no more. What an incredible gift!

I pondered His resurrection and how it made it possible for each of us to rise again with perfect glorious bodies never to hurt again, never to die again, never to say goodbye again. Someday we will never again have to look upon a suffering loved one desiring to do anything to take away their pain. We will never have to stand over a casket full of sorrow.  His resurrection allows us to look forward to what will be instead of asking what could have been. What an incredible gift!

I pondered how he has promised a mansion in heaven, where the beauty will surpass anything we have ever seen felt or heard. How wonderful will that be to those who struggle financially in this life.  What an incredible gift!

I pondered the lonely and in my minds eye saw them surrounded by numberless concourses of their own family, receiving all of the promises that they had hoped for on earth but for some reason known to God had to wait until heaven to obtain. What an incredible gift that will be!

Some say Christmas is about giving, not receiving...Well I respectfully disagree. I feel that Christmas is mostly about receiving...not the gifts that come from a store, but the gift of gifts.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Will we receive that gift?

I love my Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for the gift of His Son. As awesome as this Christmas Season can be, the worldly gifts of Christmas, the anticipation of which used to keep me up all night as boy, pale in comparison to what we have to look forward to if we will receive the gift of the Savior into our lives. Let Earth Receive Her King!