Several years ago, my husband expressed an interest in participating in a marathon. He had done several half-marathons, so I didn’t give much thought to his running a full. What I did not know at the time I flippantly agreed, was how much training was involved.
With two young children and a house full of chores, the last
thing (I thought) I could endure, was his being frequently gone after work and
on weekends. The truth of the matter was
that I was lonely and needed adult interaction after hours managing Kidville. He’d come home from work, and
get a run in before dinner. He’d do his
long run on Saturday or Sunday, the days I had counted on to have his
company.
Though I had agreed to his participation, my actions and
attitudes sabotaged his training regimen and our mutual frustration finally
came to a head. He vocalized how
important this was to him. He needed my
support. He needed me to be his
cheerleader. Instead, I was
self-absorbed and far too busy feeling sorry for myself. He was right.
Thankfully, he loved me through my selfishness and the Lord helped me
change my attitude. Ultimately, I was
able to stand at the finish line, beaming with pride at what he had
accomplished.
In the more recent past, my radio co-host Dan Rosecrans and
I were conducting an interview with a man who had set out on a hike, gotten
hopelessly lost, nearly died, found help, and then wrote a book about it. As the author was recounting his story, my “sensible”
woman brain was thinking: “Gee, how dumb.
Glad I’m not his wife!”
I then glance over at Dan, and watch a look wash over his
face. It was a very different look from
what I’m sure was plastered all over my own.
He kind of went “dreamy” and was totally engrossed in this man’s
tale. After the interview, he made a
comment to the effect of “Man, I wish I could do something like that”.This was my “ah-ha” moment. Men need adventure. They are wired for it. They need to push themselves, strain themselves and maybe even get lost in the mountains. God wired them for exploration and dreaming big dreams. They need to play “King of the Mountain” both on the playground and in the world--not to shove others down or away, but to know that sense of accomplishment.
Both genders need to understand this. Men need to
responsibly act on this gift that they have been given. When men go and do, dream and build,
fantastic things can be accomplished, not just for him personally, but for
society at large. Women need to support
and spur on their men. This is not to
suggest that women can’t have adventures and grand plans of their own, but
ladies will benefit when we assist, and champion our guys.
For some additional thoughts about what a Godly man’s man
looks like, here’s a link to a great blog from Watermark Community Church: http://www.watermark.org/blog/how-to-be-a-godly-man/
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