When Good Men invest in Good Young Men

How do men, across generations, spend the public holiday of a long weekend?  By rabbit hunting.  With the help of ferrets.

One of our pastors comes from up in the country, a couple of hours' drive from here.  His adult kids live on the farm he and his wife still own; his brother is up that way and so is his Dad.  So they have land.  And ferrets.  And rascally rabbits.  Something about the chase and the hunt and being all messy and loud and enjoying the great outdoors is appealing I guess.  Rabbit hunting seems to kill a few birds with one stone:  having fun, getting rid of pests, catching your own food.

You can't see it, because I am super thingy about privacy and safety and boring stuff like that, and because my new-to-me Mac has a cropping function, but Mr Busy has the biggest grin on his face, holding this cute-looking fluffy little ferret.  I see cute….I'm sure the men see "hunting tool".  But what I also see is my son having the time of his life with a whole bunch of really special Good Men.  His Dad, our Pastor and his son, brother and Dad.

These Good Men are investing far more into my son than a fun day doing manly, hunting stuff; more than giving my extroverted men somewhere to be, something to do and people to do it with.  They are investing into my son a whole bunch of important stuff about how to be a Good Young Man.  They are showing him some practical skills, sure.  But there will be laughter, bonding and encouragement.  They will model what it is to be a Good Man who respects other Good Men.  They will build him up, pour in and fill him up with being accepted and valued for who he is without expecting him to be someone he isn't.  He will get to feel like he's good at something and be mentored along the way when maybe he needs to learn a bit more.

I can't wait to hear stories from the day; the fun, the laughter, the successful catches.  But more than that I can't wait to see my son standing tall because some exceptional men showed him he is worth their time and their company.  I can't wait to see the self-belief and self-esteem that will grow because one significant man in my son's life thought enough of my son and my husband to organise a day doing some fun stuff together.