The moment I just knew...

It was a balmy evening late in the summer of 2001. I was outside getting some fresh air (no air conditioning at the farm, you know!) gazing up at the stars, and chatting on the phone with a young man with whom I was becoming increasingly smitten.
He was school teacher, and today was the first day of school. The excitement in his voice as he talked about his students was intoxicating. He had so much enthusiasm, so much passion for these kids, most of whom he had only met for the first time today. As he began to talk about his plans to encourage these students in their walk with Christ (did I mention he was finding ways to do this as he taught Algebra??) there was only one thing going through my mind:
"This is the man that I want to be the father of my children." It was an almost audible voice, so loud that it practically drowned out my beloved.
Today, as the mother of three wonderful little boys that this man has sired, I have become fully aware of why the Lord chose him to be their daddy.
One of the biggest challenges I face as a mother of boys, is teaching them that their masculinity is to be celebrated. How do you teach that in modern culture? TV dads are portrayed as oafs, every television commercial, cartoon movie, even popular music portrays men in general as fumbling, bumbling idiots. That is not God's plan for their manhood, and don't ever want them to think that it is. Praise the Lord that they have such a wonderful example of true masculinity in their strong, intelligent, protective, and loving daddy! What an amazing model of their heavenly Father he truly is!
I want to take this opportunity to give a big shout out to two other important examples of true masculinity my boys have. My own wonderful daddy, and my also very wonderful father - in -law. What a blessing that our boys have not one, but two Pop Pops to teach them how to be proud of the dirt-eating, snake loving, wild-hearted creation that they were created in the image of God himself to be!