Keep Showing Up

Saturday morning, dark before daylight,

Coffee in a thermos, smoke in the air.

Somebody's hauling bows, somebody's stacking firewood,

Boys start rolling in from everywhere.

Some walk in beside their fathers,

Some need somebody to stand in the gap.

They think we're here for hunting and fishing—

But every one of them is watching how a man acts.

Learn his name. Look him in the eye.

Shake his hand like he matters.

Every cast, every knot, every mile through the timber

Is a doorway to something that lasts.

Keep showing up.

When you're tired and that Saturday comes too soon,

Keep showing up.

There's a boy learning what a man of God does

By watching what you do.

The hunt ain't the mission.

The fish ain't the prize.

It's the boy beside the fire

Looking up into your eyes.

We plant.

We pray.

God gives the growth.

Brother, don't quit now.

Keep showing up.

Let him miss the target,

Then hand it back again.

Teach him safe, teach him steady,

Teach him how to lose and try again.

Tell him, “I'm glad you're here.”

Tell him, “Son, you matter to us.”

You don't know how long he's waited

To hear those words from somebody he trusts.

Then from a stand comes, “What do I do?”

And sometimes the answer's, “Son, take the shot.”

Then another boy bows his head to pray

And reminds grown men what we've forgot.

We came here thinking we'd teach them.

Turns out God's working on us too.

Keep showing up.

When you're tired and that Saturday comes too soon,

Keep showing up.

There's a boy learning what a man of God does

By watching what you do.

The hunt ain't the mission.

The fish ain't the prize.

It's the boy beside the fire

Looking up into your eyes.

We plant.

We pray.

God gives the growth.

Brother, don't quit now.

Keep showing up.

One day that boy will be a man,

And a little hand will reach for his.

He'll hear, “What do I do?”

From a son standing next to him.

He'll build the fire.

He'll tell the truth.

He'll kneel down when it's time to pray.

And something you poured into that boy

Will still be alive that day.

You may never see the whole harvest.

You may never hear your name.

But don't ever believe

These Saturdays are small.

A boy becomes a man.

A man becomes a father.

A father teaches another boy—

And the fire keeps burning.

FIGHT HELL WITH A WATER PISTOL!

If that's all we've got—

WE KNOW WHO SUPPLIES THE WATER!

So KEEP SHOWING UP!

When you're tired, brother, show up!

Pull another boy close to the fire.

Speak some courage into his life.

Teach the skill.

Tell the truth.

Let him see what Jesus is doing in you.

The woods are the doorway.

The boy is the mission.

Jesus is the One we're pointing him to.

We plant.

We pray.

God gives the growth.

And long after we're gone,

What He started can keep going.

There's another generation coming.

BROTHERS—

KEEP SHOWING UP.