Let’s get something out of the way that is always in the way when men are the topic. Reality is that a lot of sons and daughters are unfortunate enough to be raised by or live in proximity of a man who is guilty of some very uncelebratory behavior. Perhaps you have been abused or abandoned by a man and are still experiencing the painful results of being in his life. You would rather “evacuate” him than celebrate him. If that is the case for you, here are some things that I hope are true in your life:

1. I hope you are not being controlled by this person, allowing him to continue to harm you because you either have not resolved what happened in the past or have not gotten help for yourself because of what is still going on today.

2. I hope you have discovered that what is true about this one man is not true about all men and that you have allowed some healthy men to come into your life.

3. I hope you accept that your views and feelings about God are most likely influenced by this defective male and you have come to the realization that God cannot be judged based on your experience with an unhealthy male.

If those things are not true for you, then there is some work to be done. If they are true, then you are ready to celebrate the men in your life even though you may not be able to celebrate all men.

What You Can Celebrate

There are some wonderful things about men to celebrate. You can celebrate that when men “get it right” it is an amazing experience for a young girl, a sister, a wife or mother. I have gotten so many things wrong in my life that I am doing what I can to get it right in the second half of my adult life.

With my daughter it is providing her with time she acts like she does not need, advice she acts like she does not want and a safe connection with her heart that results in times of whole body laughter and other times of tears that have me to catch and wipe away. With my wife, getting it right means finding a way for her to get her word count in every day, caring about what she has been through and enrolling in the University of Misty Arterburn. My major is her heart and my minor is her wounds. Then with my mother, getting it right means honoring her with my life and making sure she is taken care of in her final years. This is just my way of “getting it right” but the way for other men is quite different.

If your man does not know what it would take to “get it right” with you, be sure and tell him, because no woman has ever celebrated a man being a mind reader. After he knows what you need, celebrate any movement he makes to move closer to you.

What Men Cannot Do

A man today can never make up for what a father failed to do years ago. A man can never live up to an idealized vision of what a man should be. And no man that has shown you all his flaws and failures can ever live up to the superficial view of any other man you are tempted to compare him to. If you can get beyond these expectations, and move into acceptance, forgiveness and embracing the man in your life, you will have much to celebrate. There is nothing more motivating to a man than a woman who knows him, all of him, and accepts him in spite of all that is not great, perfect or healed.

If it has been a long time since you have celebrated a man in your life, it is time to do it now. Work though what is standing in your way because a man is never better than when he is celebrated by a woman.