“You must be one of Johnny Walleye’s Little Minnows.”
It was the summer before I was about to enter 7th grade; turn 13; and, what I thought, fall in love for the first time.
That “falling in love thing” is funny… only happened twice… first time didn’t pan out… second one? Well I’m 40 years into it so I’ll have to tell you how it ends when I get there.
The first time I was hanging out with a girl and some friends from school at her house… and then I heard the door open and close… I was sitting on the end of the couch so I turned to see who it was and… BA-BAM!
There she was.
Got hit with the Ye-Olde Lightning Bolt!
Shoulda known it wouldn’t work out though after her initial reaction to me, and I quote, “WHO is THAT?”
And she wasn’t being coy; shy; or batting her lashes at me… and not so much flirty, as she stood there with her hand on her hip delivering her line, but more of a “mean girls” I’m way better than you… tone.
Yep… head over heels, right then and there.
And the other girl, my friend from school, “Oh that’s Dave.”
(With a smile on her face I might add)
She knew me.
My “Helen of Troy” obviously did not know me, my ways, or my personal charm.
As the day progressed and the co-mingling continued I found myself sitting at the kitchen table… talking to our “Helen”.
As I had my back to the door (rookie mistake, a good cowboy never sits with his back to the door, it’s a Wild Bill thing) I didn’t see who walked in.
But as they sidled through the kids in the kitchen, one a big dude, the other a tiny gal with a big attitude.
She noticed me right off.
Looked me up and down and said, “You must be one of Johnny Walleyes Little Minnows.”
(Johnny Walleye was my dad, but I didn’t know these folks)
That statement kinda freaked me out, and was tattooed on my brain apparently.
She recognized me… by my appearance.
But I didn’t know at the time that my friends family and her sisters, “to be husband”, were well aware of my family… and I resembled my family enough they knew who I belonged to.
Now, in my neck of the woods, being recognized as… “a Bosquez”… back then could be both a blessing and a curse.
In the course of your life maybe you’ve had a similar experience?
In my “Emerging Man” work I’ve been working on “identifying being a man”.
What does one of those resemble?
How am I supposed to recognize being a man first in myself and then in you…
With the Million Dollar Question being, “How do I resemble and recognize that I am following Jesus Christ and am a member of His family?”
And how are you to recognize that resemblance in me?
The Cus D’Amato quote: “Regardless what a man says. It’s what he does in the end that he intended to do all along.”
This quote has been rattling around in my mind recently, making me reflect on the “what he does” statement.
Am I just “looking at Gods Word” or am I “doing what it says” as The Book of James encourages us to do.
If you never read the Book of James how would you recognize that I’m trying to live out those words?
And “loving God”, if I just go by my own experience understanding what that looks like is maybe 50/50. Like I said “I’m 40 years into Love#2 and will have to let you know.”
But “Loving Jesus”; the first among many brothers and many sons and daughters of God…
I have a ton of brothers and sisters and know what that worldly love tends to look like.
And our “Helen of Troy” taught me what that initial lightning bolt feels like (so that second time it struck I just knew)
Compared to other “love interests” I never had that lightning bolt so I knew these “interests” would not last… I didn’t intend on them lasting… and in the end… they didn’t.
But with Jesus… I’ve had lightning bolts, real ones; had BA-BAM! car wrecks; personal mental storms and literal tornadoes that needed dodging; and have been recognized as a Christ follower… even by my 5 year old granddaughter…
What I “say” now has to be aligned with what I “do” now in hopes that in the end “my intentions” will be evident.
I am no longer “a little minnow”; I am a brother to Jesus Christ, a Son to the Father, and student of The Holy Spirit.
I hope it shows.
… … …
In the end, “Helen” and I never dated, and as we left school never even said goodbye; even though we had remained friends from that first fateful day through our graduation.
(I did go to war once or twice for her though)
In the end, the big dude, and tiny gal, had a daughter who would go to school with my own kids, and through a time capsule of fate I wouldn’t realize who her parents were until graduation!!!
In the end, The Lambs Book of Life will be opened… so what do you intend to do??
Sincerely,
The Emerging Man
theemergingman.com 