By Wes Vaughan
Look at his face…sheer and utter joy. Bag of cotton candy. Being up past his bed time. Grave Digger. Monster Truck Jam 2013. Times like this with my boys are what I cherish. I like to think that a healthy portion of his excitement seen in this picture is simply because he is on a special trip with his Dad. A boy looks up to his Dad for guidance, direction, a model to live by. I pray continually for guidance on how to do a worthy job of this because I know I only have a limited time to make a good impression.
Here is what I try to achieve every day with my two boys:
1. Show them that I love my wife. I want them to see that their Mom is my top priority. I believe that seeing that will not only give them a sense of security now and in the future, but will also convey to them how important their wives need to be when they are older, married and with children. “If Momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy.” (Short side note: Every time my boys see my wife and I hugging, they come to wherever we are hugging and giddily sit themselves in betweeen us…they LOVE it.)
2. “I love you.” Can’t tell them enough.
3. “I’m proud of you.” Every man yearns to hear this, from the first day of his life ’til the last day, especially from his Dad. We want to know we’ve done good and I try to tell (or show) my boys this as much as possible when I see them succeeding in their lives – giving, sharing, being kind, achieving a goal, whatever. Their faces light up when they hear this…it’s awesome.
4. “You’re good at ________.” Drawing, coloring, organizing, building Legos, hitting a baseball, kicking a soccer ball, climbing a tree, running, whatever. If they excel in something, I tell them because I want them to have a strong sense of confidence in themselves when they face the world.
5. Pray. Whether it’s saying a blessing at dinner time or saying our prayers at bedtime, I want my boys to know that the world is bigger than them…and they need help getting through it. Be thankful and trust that God has your back.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” -Proverbs 22:6
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