how i want my sons to live

i don't want my boys to be regular. i don't want them to grow up to be just like everyone else. i don't want them to be just part of the crowd.

i want them to be different. i want them to be set apart.

i want them to want more. 

to do more. 

to be more.

i want them to be the kind of boys who hold the door open for others. i want them to be the kind of boys who stop to help when someone drops what they're holding. i want them to be the kind of boys who don't make fun of girls, who don't criticize others, who don't call people names.

little things to some. insignificant even. but not to me. because to me the little things are what forms a person. the little things are what creates character. the little things are what eventually build into the big things.

and my boys will one day be men. and i want them to be the kind of men that others look up to. 

that others can rely on. 

that others want to grow up to be.

and those boys i've taught to open the door will hopefully realize that it's not just about the door. it's about putting someone else before yourself. it's about trying to serve others.

it's about stopping to care.

and those boys i've taught to help someone who has dropped what they're holding will hopefully grow up to realize that it's not about the dropping at all. it's about the picking up. it's about the seeing if someone needs help holding on.

it's about stopping to care.

and those boys i've taught not to make fun of girls, not to criticize others, not to call people names, will hopefully grow up to realize that it's not about the one moment of laughter. it's about looking beyond the moment to see the pain you may be causing someone else. it's about not wanting to tear someone down to build yourself up.

it's about stopping - right in the middle of what you're doing - to care.

and that's what i want my sons to learn in life. that the most important thing is the caring. to get up each day and care about those around you. to walk out into the world and care about people. to not get so caught up in what they're doing that they miss what God needs them to do.

i want them to stop...to pause...to look around...and to live their lives with a priority for caring.

and i want them to care even when it seems like no one else does. to care even when it seems like it's not making a difference. to care even when people laugh or think they're strange. or think they're different. 

because they should be different. 

i want them to be different.

i pray to God everyday they are different.

in a world that fights so hard for everyone to fit in, i want them to stand out. 

this world will show them plenty of things i wish they would never see. it will teach them plenty of lessons i wish they would never learn.

but i can't control that.

it's part of life.

but the part i can control, the foundation i can set, the belief i can instill - is that even when surrounded by darkness you can still find good.

and i want them to stop and find that goodness. i hope they stop and are part of that goodness. 

i pray they stop and live that goodness.

because i have to believe that the goodness, i have to believe that the caring, will still overcome even the worst parts of people. that it will still overcome the evil in this world. 

because the evil, the badness, the craziness will always be a part of life. it will always live in the hearts of men.

i'm just trying to make sure it never lives in the hearts...

of my men.