DAD MOMENT… My son Gideon cried to me last night. He loves football and wants to do his best for his team. Last night, he was hurt by someone’s words. He felt belittled and embarrassed. As a father, everything in me wanted to protect him. But I told him, “You can’t control another’s actions. Now you get to decide how you respond.” It hurt seeing my son hurt, but I also know I can’t protect him from every difficult moment in life. Sometimes protecting him means not removing the hardship, but teaching him how to walk through it. My job isn’t to fight every battle for him. My job is to prepare him for the battles he’ll have to fight without me. When I look at this picture and see my son looking up at me, I’m reminded of that responsibility: To teach him how to RESPOND. How to STAND and stay TRUE to who he IS!