After having a text conversation with a friend, I watched the movie, "Courageous." It was an awesome picture, very highly motivating. I can not believe that I had not heard much about this movie before. I mean, I had heard of it but only one person that I did not know told me it was a must see. I am not sure if it is because I have not spent many days or nights around the church in the last year but none the less, I have not heard to much about it.
As I began to watch it, all I could think about was this is what I want for my life. I have always known that I am the type of man that takes responsibility for another's life. I know that I must be the best man I can be. The best example that I can be. The best role model and provider that I can be. A great father and supportive husband. A giant of a man amongst so many that have been falling short.
Growing up an athlete (especially in sports like football) thought me how to be a responsible and loyal member of a family and a team player. Football is the only sport where if one man does not do his job for one fraction of a second they whole play will fall apart and someone can get seriously injured. I was also raised in a Catholic home with both my parents and being the youngest of 4 siblings. My dad was a Vietnam veteran who spoke with a stern tone, punished with a Texan heavy iron fist and had the heart of Mother Teresa. He was a man that showed very little passion, cried less than a handful of times but has always had a brotherly love for our neighbors. My mother wore her emotions on her sleeve and was completely outward with her generosity and giving spirit.
Growing up in a family like this kept many people whom needed help in and out of our home. If we weren't taking in a family friend, then there was a someone that we were giving a ride to school, work or church. Some of the individuals that I had the pleasure of sharing our with with are still in my life today and they are never considered anything less than family. Some people that I met only needed a place to stay for a night or a week or so and I will never forget them either.
When I watched the movie "Courageous" I could only think of my father and the man that he is and was. I realized that though my mother was the main lobbyer for many of these people (mostly children, teenage and pre-teen) to stay with us, it took a magnificently great man to stand in agreement with a such a huge hearted woman.
I remember the day my dad was working his second job as a security guard in the mid to late 90s.He called my mother to warn her that while he was patrolling a rather large city park, he had come across a mother and her 19 year old mentally disabled son and they were sleeping beneath there. It informed my mother that he was going to bring them home and in the mother she (my mother) would have to help them find a shelter that would allow her to keep her son with her. He arrived home no longer than 10 to 15 minutes later with this mother and older son to bedroom setting that I was instantly ordered to provide for them. This is the type of thing that happened regularly in our home and I could see no other better way to come of age.
My father was and is a Courageous man. He has had his struggles and has in no way been perfect but he has always been perfect for my family. He has stood besides my mother that has fought a debilitating and mortal disability known as Sarcoidosis (originally diagnosed as Multiple Sclerosis). He has worked 40 plus years to provide for me and my siblings. He took in many family members, our childhood friends and people he had only known for 5/10 minutes. He is undoubtedly one of the main reasons I am a man today that lives through my heart's desires and thinks on a social and community level. He is exactly that father and husband that I strive to be.
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