Peter-man

Amanda and I remind each other all the time that our goal in raising Pete is, by God's grace, to take this cute, little, snuggly boy and turn him into a man who can protect, provide for, and lead a family someday. The clock continues to tick, and we keep looking for ways to be intentional in cultivating the virtues we hope he will someday possess when he has grown into a man.

One of the primary values we are teaching him is that men should protect and defend what is beautiful, especially women, even at great cost to themselves. We are always on the look-out for opportunities where we can teach Pete this concept experientially. A few months back, Pete's friend Courtney had a tough time at Children's Church with some of the rougher kids in the room. Her mom, Ann, told Pete's mom, and Pete's mom told Pete what had happened, and asked Pete to keep an eye on Courtney. Pete went in and found a couple of empty seats, and then he turned to Courtney and said, "You can sit by me, Courtney. I'll protect you." And he did.

Today, Amanda and the kids spent a morning at the zoo with the Mom-to-mom troupe. One of the exhibits there includes a small fire station, with a small fire truck that kids can climb around on. When the group got there a bunch of *big kids* (i.e. 5 and 6 year old boys) were climbing-and-jumping-and-yelling, in and around the truck. When they finally left, Courtney turned to her mom and said, "I'm glad there aren't any more boys on the fire truck." Ann corrected her, noting that Pete was still playing on the truck. "Oh, Pete doesn't count. He protects me."

Guess who's picking up popsicles on his way home from work tonight…