The Man With A Lunchbag

Yesterday, I saw a man running toward a school alone with a lunchbag. I didn't know yet why he was running, but I could already tell that he was being a good father, getting his kid a formerly forgotten lunch. When I found out why he was running, my estimation of him improved even more. He was running so he could quickly get back to a bus stop. He had risked missing the bus to get his kid their lunch.

Now, I don't know where the man was going, and I didn't know how important it was for him to arrive on time rather than 30 minutes later than he had planned, but my point still stands. This man was willing to put in effort and risk inconveniencing himself, perhaps seriously, to ensure that his kid wouldn't have to go a day without lunch. And going without lunch for a day isn't the end of the world. We members of the church go without lunch (and breakfast) on a regular basis. But this man wanted to make sure that his kid wouldn't have to go without lunch that day, and I admire him for that.

I admire that he went out of his way to help his child. I admire that he was willing to make (and/or risk making) sacrifices for the sake of his kid. I admire that he valued his child's well-being higher than his own. That is Christlike. That is the best kind of manliness. That's good parenting.

Granted, I don't know what that man is normally like, and I don't want to judge people (in general, and especially with such limited knowledge of them), but I admire the man with a lunchbag. In that moment, and likely others, he was being a good dad.