Weddings have a way of slowing time. Everyone else was talking, laughing, and toasting, but I found myself crouched low, watching my son crawl across the hardwood floor. The sunlight poured through the curtains, throwing long shadows of a man bent low and a boy moving forward. And in that moment, I wasn’t thinking about bouquets or champagne. I was thinking about the kind of man I pray he becomes.
One day, he won’t crawl. One day, he’ll stand. He’ll speak. He’ll share his thoughts with the kind of conviction that can either tear people down or lift them up. My prayer is that he learns the latter, that his words become tools of grace, sharp enough to cut through the noise, but soft enough to carry love.
I want him to grow up confident, not arrogant. Respectful, not timid. Strong in conviction, but humble enough to listen. I want him to put his family above everything else this world offers, and above even them, Christ. Because the truth is, if he loves Christ most, he’ll love his family best.
I think about the world he’s growing up in. Just yesterday, the news carried the chilling weight of another assassination. Another voice silenced. Another reminder that words, ideas, and convictions have consequences. We live in an age where speaking boldly can cost you everything. But silence costs even more. I don’t want my son to grow up afraid of his own voice. I want him to stand, not with the bravado of a man trying to prove himself, but with the steady courage of one rooted in something eternal.
One day, this little boy will walk out into a world where hate is cheap, cynicism is currency, and love is often mistaken for weakness. And I hope, God help me, that he’ll walk differently. That he’ll be a man who builds, not tears down. Who offers respect where none is given. Who loves deeply, even when it hurts.
For now, though, he crawls. I crouch. The sunlight catches us both. And I pray that when he finally stands, he’ll do so with a heart stronger than mine, eyes set higher than mine, and a love deeper than mine.
Because the world needs men like that.
And because he’s my boy.
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