Wild At Heart

Wild At Heart

June 17, 2007 (Father’s Day)

Genesis 1:27

Genesis 2:7-8

This past Tuesday our family was at the dinner table having supper when I noticed a bunny hop into our front yard. I didn’t mention it at first because it was dinnertime and because I remember the last time a bunny came into our yard.

But about 30 seconds later the bunny hopped in front of a window. As soon as Luke and Ben saw it they yelled out "Bunny" and then jumped out of their chairs and headed for the door. They were going to get that bunny. That bunny was as good as dead.

As they were on their way to the door Emma who was strapped into her seat, was begging to see the bunny before my boys strung it up. She was doing her best to maneuver herself into a position to simply see it.

Deb got her out as quickly as she could and I corralled the boys and redirected them to the living room window where all of us could see the bunny.

So for about a minute the 5 of us watched this bunny do its thing in our front yard, scratching in the dirt and then rolling in it. Finally the boys couldn’t contain their juices any longer, we gave them permission to go and get that bunny.

Fortunately the bunny won and hasn’t been back since.

Today is Father’s Day - the day on the calendar that Moms, children and grandchildren pause to recognize Fathers.

Fathers who were at one time little boys - anxious to chase down little bunnies.

Fathers who at one time dreamt of becoming:

Firemen

Policemen

Professional athletes

Adventurers

Men of the wild

But now - many a time have forgotten those boyhood desires in order to become:

More sensible

More cautious

More honoring

Many of us dads. Many of us fathers. Many of us husbands have forsaken, or put on the back burner the very pursuits and interests that for so long fueled our ambitions. We very dutifully have become or are trying to become men who do indeed look out for, provide for and serve our families.

This is a reality and a needed one. These are indeed some of the duties and responsibilities of being a parent, male or female. Certain dreams are indeed put on hold until a later time.

But what concerns me is that some men, some dads, some fathers never pick those dreams and ambitions back up again. They never pursue them. Never try them. Never explore them. Instead choosing the remote control. Or a safer life. Or their work, whatever it is has so shaped them, confined them. And their overspending at times causes them to be enslaved to work that those boyhood ambitions have been lost.

For younger fathers like myself, I see in myself a tension of wanting to really love and care for our families but at times wanting to become that little boy again who dreams of becoming Grizzly Adams or Ponch or John from the TV show CHiPS.

Even this week I saw the little boy in me come out. It was the day after the bunny visited our yard. Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning is trash day, so I went to the shed and put out the trash can and came back inside to eat my cereal.

As I sat at the table with Emma on my lap helping me, Ben yelled out "Crow Dad." Sure enough a crow had landed on the trashcan and was trying to rip open our trash. So I went to the window, opened it up quietly and on the count of 3 - Emma, Ben and I yelled and the crow took off.

Only to return rather quickly - only this time the yelling didn’t scare it, so I said to Ben and Emma stand here quietly.

I quickly snuck out the door and like a SWAT team member picked up 3 stones from our driveway. I ran up to the big tree in our front yard and poked my head out to see it the crow was still there. When I saw that it was I leaped out and launched my missiles at it. Never striking it or the can unfortunately but close enough to scare it off.

Though I missed it, it felt good to act that way again. A bit silly.

Inside men, the author John Eldredge writes, we are wild at heart. This is who we are. No matter the age. Not matter the profession. No matter the place you live and no matter your interests, at the core, the Christian author John Eldredge writes we are wild at heart. We dream of adventure.

Adventure in the woods.

Adventure in the business world.