Never let them see you sweat

It is with much apprehension mixed with hope that I announce - it’s officially out! Our 4th Mending Lines series, focused on dads and teen sons.  Why the mixed emotion?  Because this time, instead of being able to hide behind the camera and ask the questions (like a pastor can hide behind a pulpit, a teacher behind a lesson plan, or a guide behind their gear), we have turned the camera on ourselves.  All our faltering and fumbling as we attempt to raise young men - on display for all to see, and critique. Mending Lines 04 does not showcase how to be a perfect dad, but a present one.  Dad's who don't get it right every time, but know God's unconditional love for them and attempt to raise their boys to experience and know that same God, and that same love. “Never let them see you sweat”. 

 If you watched television during the 1980s, chances are you remember this phrase.  It was used as a slogan for DRY IDEA antiperspirant.  Seeing this commercial frequently as a young man (it showed often during ball games), it delivered a message that I subconsciously digested: “Don’t let others know.  Don’t show weakness. ”There are times in life where we need to manage stress and maintain our composure, but a lifestyle of “don’t let others know - don’t show weakness” does nothing more than keep us isolated, living on an island where we feel like no one understands and that we’re the only one who  ____ (fill in the blank).   

God warns us in our daily walk that we have an enemy – the Devil, the great deceiver:  “Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8.  Our enemy works hard to convince us we’re alone.  If he can do it, it’s mission accomplished - but isolation is a killer.  “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up”. - Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

God delivers us a different message that flies in the face of “never let them see you sweat”.  He says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9), He "comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others" (2 Corinthians 1:4), and that the devil is defeated “by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony” - (Revelation 12:11).

And so… it is with much apprehension—apprehension because the "Family Lines dad" can’t hide that he doesn’t have all the answers, sometimes hurts his boys, and regularly misses the mark—and it is also with great hope—hope in our Heavenly Father, the One who shows Himself perfect in our weakness and uses our testimony to minister to others who may be feeling alone in their parenting teen boys—that I announce: Mending Lines 04 is officially out!