REPOST: She Thinks We’re Just Fishin’

I’m reposting this story from about three years ago.  Fishing season is upon us, and my daughters are anxious to get out again soon.  And, if that wasn’t enough, my oldest daughter is growing up so quickly.  She absolutely rocked out a solo tonight at her school choir concert, and it made me think of the times we spent singing the song that I talk about later in the post.  Here goes:

“This morning, I took my daughters fishing.  They have experienced a bit of fishing before, but this was their first time with me.  Just the three of us went; 2yr old Emma, 3yr old Lily and Daddy.  We drove about 7 minutes to the local lake.  I taught them how to put the rods together, then switched the lefty reel to a righty.  We then baited a hook (lure) and I showed them how to cast and reel.  They took turns and ultimately, had a great time.  We didn’t stay long.  They were more interested in their ice cold water and snack that waited for them in my truck and not so much in casting and sitting still in the hot summer sun.  It was all good.

I had prepared them for this “fishing trip” the night before.  They woke up excited and were ready to go fairly early.  They thought we were going to catch huge fish, but I knew better.  I wasn’t using the right lures and the rods were way too big for them.  Again, it was all good.

It wasn’t about catching fish.  [If it was, they’d call it ‘catching’ instead of ‘fishing’.]  It was about my daughters having time with their father, and it was about their father having time with his daughters.  Time, that’s really all.  And memories.  When’s the last time you took time to make memories with your children?  Your godchildren?  Your nephews/nieces?  Your grandkids?  Go make memories.  Oh, and on the way home from fishing… we stopped in at the adoration chapel at our church for a few minutes of silent prayer with Jesus.  Overall, it was a great morning.

Trace Adkins has a great song that became “Lily’s song”, and I sing it to her all the time.  Here’s the video.  Speaks to what I’m talking about here.  Thanks, Trace.”

TrueMan up!

Celebrity Apprentice – Season 2

Are you familiar with Donald Trump?  The multi-billionaire business man that created the show “The Apprentice”.  Although he’s very good at what he does in business, he’s not the example of TrueManhood.  He’s at it again, this time season two of Celebrity Apprentice.  This show has been getting some big press and, as in years past, gains traction throughout the season.  Season two started last night, although I didn’t watch it, I found this commercial clip for it.  Watch…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90zttzBDhZs]

I can’t begin to count the bad examples of manhood throughout the show… I can’t even keep up with them in this short one minute promo.  Clint Black is “ready to go the wild side”, Pierce Morgan (altough he proclaims to be a Catholic-family man) is a crude, rude, pompous, arrogant man.  Don’t even get me started on Rodman or Andrew Dice Clay.  Tom Green is “stabbing people in the back”, and wearing wedding dresses on the street corner.  We hear Trump say, as he flies around in his private helicopter, “It’s all about fighting for what you believe in.”  I’m not sure what any of these celebrities believe in.

The show isn’t horrible, overall, as most of the money that is raised goes to (mostly) worthy charities.  So, there’s at least one good part to it.  It’s not at all what TrueManhood is about.  If you can stomach it, watch an episode on nbc.com and see what you think.  Are any of these men setting an example of TrueManhood or are they fulfilling society’s idea of “cultural manliness”?  You decide.

Man up!