What does “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” have to do with your business?

Is it wrong to be a little boy or a little girl who looks at the stars and sees God? What if the child prayed and God answered?

At a young age I remember asking my Mom and Grandmother two questions:

1. While looking at the stars and pondering, I asked, “Momma, if we put a big wall in space, what would be on the other side of the wall?” Mom was like “What?…” My contemplation as a 3-year-old was not about a wall. It was the awe of infinity.
2. As a young child while my Grandmother Blackwell was scratching my back and talking to me about God and Jesus, I remember saying to her “Grandmama, either God made man, or Man made god.

So what does The Boy That Cried Wolf have to do with your business?

When you hang up your keys, cleats, and retire, what will they really say about you, the Captain of your ship?

Gwen and I have worked hard to raise our four children. We will never be done being their Mom and Dad. We put each other and our children atop the priority list. At least that was our choice together. We wanted, and still want, our children to see us trying to do right, and trying not to do wrong. It is noble. A healthy family unit is the core of any civilization, proven by history.

We should consider bonding with each other in our disagreements and the right to have them, instead of letting politicians and shysters divide us, and then seek to take us away from each other.

So what of freedom? Our freedom does not come from our government or our politicians. History harshly teaches that government, politicians, and centralized power are to be held in check, or the people pay the price. An awful price. A government powerful enough to take care of you will soon take from you, forever. Government takes. Truth be known, the only freedom we will ever have will be the freedom we take from our government – the politicians. Both democrats and republicans take. All politicians take. Yes, there are good people who are politicians. As a collective force, though, they take. Some politicians fight it. They usually lose along with us.

Remember, as a constituent, a voter, a free woman or free man, never give your rights away. Our individual rights to disagree unite us.

Have you ever asked yourself, “How did some politician, some professor, some zealot we will never meet get the right to tell us how to think… how to live… what to say?” Remember, as a constituent, a voter, a free woman or free man, never give your rights away. Our individual rights to disagree unite us. Remember that. Our individual rights to disagree unite us.

Politicians make us fight while they split up our money and go party together. They are them. They tell you I am white. They tell me you hate rich folks. They say women all think this way. They scream at us that Black people all think this way. They tell us we cannot enjoy our differences.

Bullpoop! We speak for ourselves. Remember, you ride the you horse! We are not a voting block. We are very unique.

When we disagree they convince us that each other are hateful. They plant the hate. Maybe we simply disagree. The hate is not a best practice. Do not take the bait. It is a fake wrestling match.

So what of that Boy Who Cried Wolf? I remember having to teach our two oldest daughters, Clara and Emalyn why not to lie. We had to teach Nick and Elisabeth the same when they were little. So is it smarter to teach them why to tell the truth? Or is it smarter to teach them why not to lie? Both of course. These two truths touch, yet run differing directions. Both are great lessons.

Fun bathed in good is worth repeating.

So to teach and coach our children about not lying, Gwen and I started telling the kids about The Boy Who Cried Wolf at bedtime for many years. Oh how they loved to hear that story! We always told it with tickles and an attack of tickling when the wolf attacked the lying little boy. It was a tragedy. There were lies, attacks and near death experiences. There was shame. Why was this their favorite bedtime story?

1. One reason is because we all hoped the attack of that old wolf was long away. They were in baby cribs and little kid beds… our sweet son and daughters were many years from that mean old wolf. It still seemed like a fairy tale.
2. Another reason is because Gwen and I knew God would be there for them. God had been there all along. God and Jesus and The Holy Spirit have been in my life the whole way. Judge me. Hate me. I do not care. God made Himself known to me at a young age. So when I tell analogies, parables and stories, I know where good comes from. I bet on good. Best practice is based on good.
3. Yet another reason is because the truth of The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a brutal one. My goal was to get the kids’ attention. We needed to get a life or death point across. So I told a parable… a story. It was interesting. It was always a spirited story the way we told it! The look in their eyes was so cool. The excitement and the predictable conflict, and then the same ending. And because it included a tickle-fest when the mean old wolf attacked, the kids asked for it. They wanted to hear it again, and again, and again. Gwen and I always reinforced doing right and the moral to the story.
4. The last reason… well it was fun for us to tell. Fun bathed in good is worth repeating. Gwen and I were coaching and teaching four (4) precious little souls, our own flesh and blood, how to be wise. Eventually, we could tell The Boy That Cried Wolf so good that they wanted to hear it every night, for like 20 years.

Politicians make us fight while they split up our money and go party together.

So what does The Boy That Cried Wolf have to do with business in America in 2020? Let me ask you that question. What do right, wrong, trustworthiness and leading others to embody them have to do with your role? How do you have a winning hand for you, your family and your business? When you hang up your keys, cleats, and retire, what will they really say about you, the Captain of your ship?

Until next time, Cheers!