Cowboy Up Men!

I live in the southwest, southwest New Mexico to be exact, or as I like to refer to it as “Wild West” country hence my website wildwestcatholic.com (pause for pity applause on the cheap joke). Anyhow, we have a saying around here, a saying that you will hear throughout the west, “Cowboy Up!” Since there is not definition for the term in the Webster Dictionary, we turn to the definition in the Urban Dictionary which pretty much describes it spot on. Cowboy Up – 1. Make a determined effort to overcome a formidable obstacle. 2. It means when things are getting tough you try that much harder and if you fall, you get back up, dust yourself off and keep trying.

Men, you have one goal in this world and that is to make it to heaven. If you are married, then you are expected to get your wife to heaven. If you are a father, it’s your job to get your children to heaven, and if you are single, it’s your job to be an example to others in the world and try to get them to heaven.

How many of you lead your family in prayer daily? How many of you pray before meals? How many of you bless your wives and children? How many of you read your Bible and CCC? How much time do you devote to daily personal prayer? And, one of the most important questions to ask yourselves, how many of you have a personal relationship with God?

These are obstacles that you need to overcome to be that leader, protector and provider that God has called you to be. This is when you Cowboy Up! Men of God, don’t make excuses! REPEAT IT, Men of God, don’t make excuses! Say it again and again until you have it branded into your brain, Jack! (FYI I was using the term Jack long before there was ever Duck Dynasty on TV) If you’ve never prayed with your family, then start. There’s no better time than right now. Walk away from your computer, your smartphone, or whatever it is you are reading this on, and go pray with your family. I’ll wait for you to get back. You see. How hard was that? Not hard at all, right? That’s leading from the front, my brother.

Let’s tackle the next one, praying at meals. Easy enough at home right, but how about when you are out in public? One of the best things you can do in life is to evangelize, and this can also be done through actions instead of words. Take a leap of faith and pray the next time you are out in public eating at a restaurant or roadside stand (don’t knock em) and realize that by doing so, you are evangelizing. Once again, leading from the front.

Next, blessing your wife and children. Let’s take this one step further and talk about blessing others. Once again, easy to do at home. Bless your wife and children before bed, when they wake up, before they go to school and work, etc… But how about your neighbor? How about that homeless man asking for money on the corner. When you hand him money and he says “God bless you” do you bless him back or stare at him blankly not knowing what to say. Bless that neighbor, bless that homeless person, bless that stranger and bless whoever you can. God enjoys when we bless others and once again, a form of evangelization and leading from the front.

1 Peter 3:15 – “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” Are your ready? There are two books that should be in every Catholic home, the Holy Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These are our rule books, these will help you to be ready to give an explanation for your hope, but only if you read them. A good rule to use is to keep it simple. Don’t set yourself up for failure by wanting to read X amount of pages in X amount of days. My recommendation is to start with the New Testament. Start with one of the Gospels and read the words slowly. Let the words speak to you. When you hit upon part of a scripture that speaks to you, pause and let it sink in. Meditate on the words that you are reading. It’s not a race and there are no medals or trophies awarded to whoever finishes reading the Bible first, so take your time. The same with the CCC. Pick an area that you may have questions about, such as confession, Holy Day of Obligations, etc… Study the words, and let them sink in, just like when you read the Bible, and don’t be afraid to do this in front of your family or in front of strangers in public. Lead from the front and show the world.

Personal prayer time is one of the things that has helped me to get more out of my relationship with God. If you do not have time set aside for personal prayer then you are missing out, my brothers. This is your one on one time with God. There is no need for scripted prayer, this is you and He having a conversation. Don’t make it harder than what it has to be. The only advice I’d give on this area is to make sure and pick a time and place where you and others such as family members know that this is your area and this is your alone time with God. They will respect you for it and do everything in their power not to interrupt and keep things quiet. You lead, they observe this, and everyone is a winner.

If you don’t have a personal relationship with God, then none of the things that I mentioned before will matter. As men we tend to believe that if we give our lives to God, that it makes us weak in the eyes of other men. On the contrary men, it makes you stronger because in the end, you will not worry about what those men are saying, you will be focused on pleasing God and doing what is right, which will trickle on down effecting your whole life; family, work, friends and so on. The easiest way to accomplish this is total surrender to Him. You step out of the way and allow Him to take the reins and lead you where He needs you to be. Thank Him every day for all that He has given you, and do your part to be that example to all.

So Cowboy Up, men, and don’t be afraid to fall from time to time, because it will happen. When it does, dust yourself off and try again. Your family is counting on you and so is God. You can do this, my brothers, God bless.