Only a man can instill a sense of pride in a boy…

When that boy looks to that man and that man gives him a wink; maybe a smile; an approving nod… or places his hand on his shoulder and gives him a rough shake saying, “Nice job kid”… that boy picks his head up; that boy laughs to himself, that boy will take that memory with him to his grave… knowing that that day, that day right there, was the day I became a man.

Could happen when he’s 10 on a baseball field; or 20something on his wedding day; or when he’s 57 and God himself gives him that wink.

But what happens to the boy who never gets that day?

They say if you suffered through childhood trauma you need to become the adult that your inner child needed back then.

But to be that person you need to have the ability to be many people to that inner child and to yourself… that’s usually where the negative self talk rears it’s ugly head calling you a fake and a fraud!

I just finally said back, “I know I am, but that is no excuse to stop moving forward, or to keep trying to hit the mitt.”

With the loss of “the community” that would support rites of passage and amongst men themselves when they show disdain to other men who are questioning their manhood, it’s imperative for a boy/man to search out Jesus Christ… who is the truth, and who will tell you the truth to your face, knowing it may sting a little… so that you can gain a sure and ancient footing in your personal manhood journey.

Here is a hard truth offered in the Word, from Lamentations 3:7-9

^“7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
    he has weighed me down with chains.
⁸ Even when I call out or cry for help,
    he shuts out my prayer.
⁹ He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
    he has made my paths crooked.”

There is maturity in these words.

Test your own heart against these words.

Do feel like running away and breaking out?

Or do you feel like… breaking in!!!???

These 3 verses are quite the barometer to test your personal maturity.

Think on it.

Let me know what becomes revealed to you.

The Emerging Man… encouraging you to take hold of the hand of Christ with grit!