Proud

There are two kinds of pride...

The first is the bad one, the one the Bible speaks of so often, the one which creeps in as the most subtle of sins. You know, the self-centered self-focused kind of pride. The "look at me, I'm all that" type of pride. As Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines it, "an inordinate self-esteem." You know it when you see it.

The second is more benign -- it is the great feeling of well-being you get when you've done something well, or when you have accomplished something you never thought you could. It is the warmth you feel inside for a job well done, for being "best in class". It is the pride of a beaming parent.

Well, this weekend, I had two occasions to well up with pride - the good kind!

The first of these occurred Saturday morning. Cathy and I drove up to North Greenville University to watch our son Zach play in an ultimate frisbee tournament. His team, the NGU Ninja Geese, played seven or eight games Saturday in the chilly weather, and it was a lot of fun to watch. Good athleticism on display, as well as good sportsmanship. The Geese are really a class act.

As I watched the game, I realized I was proud of Zach for a number of reasons. I was proud that Zach had selected such a great Christian university to attend. I was proud that he is knocking the spots off his schoolwork, with all A's and B's (and straight A's last semester!). I was proud that he has surrounded himself with a great group of Christian buddies, the kind that make lifelong friends.

But I was particularly proud to see Zach acting in a leadership role, as captain of his ultimate team. He played this role well, finding the balance between challenging his teammates, encouraging them, pushing them to higher levels of performance, keeping his cool during tense moments, etc. It's hard to lead others and gain their respect, but I saw Zach doing just that, and boy did it make me proud. Zach, you're the MAN.

The second event took place exactly 24 hours later, on Sunday morning. This morning at church, David Walker was out of town, and our other son Brandon led worship at Crossroads. Not just led it, but really LED it. It was an awesome thing to watch.

As with Zach, Brandon has made me proud in so many ways over the past few years. I'm proud that Brandon graduated with good marks from North Greenville. I'm proud that he is a hard worker, working two jobs faithfully, day in and day out. I'm proud that he has worked and worked and worked to improve his musical skills, AND his spiritual walk, to the point where he leads worship as well as -- get this -- as well as Aaron Keyes and David Walker, who were his mentors. I'm proud to point out to people in the congregation, "That's my son, leading worship today." I'm proud that he trusted God to find him the perfect companion, and waited until the Lord brought him Megan. Brandon, you're the MAN too.

I realize of course that it's God (not me) who is working all things in our lives for His purposes... It is not my mastery of parenting skills that has brought Zach and Brandon to this point, oh no! I think we can all agree on that one, lol! It has been God working on them, shaping and molding them, building them into clay vessels for his use.

Is it wrong for me to feel such great pride as a parent? I don't think so. In today's world, with all the temptations and pitfalls out there, and with so many young people falling to them, I think I have every reason to be proud.

In fact, I'm sure of it.

God is good!