On the Old South and being spoiled.

I had lunch with an old friend today. You know, one of those people who knows your roots and reminds you when you forget. We used words like "Old Money" and "cotillion" and I figured out why Tuscaloosa boys have been such a disappointment. 

Our Mayfair boys spoiled us. 

I blame them for all of it. Keep in mind that I was 20 before I dated a boy who cursed in my presence. I blame the Mayfair boys. I blame them for seeing us as sisters in Christ first. I blame them for luring us into believing that every boy would see us with the same respect that they did. I blame them for not preparing us to have a boy swear in our presence. I blame them for being some of the most beautiful people, for being the toughest boys I've ever known, and for making me think every man would cry when he had to leave a little baby in Mexico. I blame them for looking so adorable playing football on mission trips, for being able to make a baby stop crying, and for having perfect manners. I blame them for letting me think that every man would be able to pray on the drop of a hat, would stand up for his country, and knew to stand up when a lady came into the room. 

Remember, we're from the Old South. 

And as we added up traits and characteristics of the boys we grew up with, I realized something: just because the boys at the University of Alabama look and talk like they walked straight out of a Faulkner novel, they are not gentlemen. 

They are not gentlemen. 

They will never have the self control to not swear. They don't respect girls enough. Ladies, we don't demand that enough anymore. They will never have the strength to let a girl cry into their shoulder on a mission trip or after the good Lord has called them to repent. That strength doesn't exist in these boys. 

I have to extend this, though, to all the boys of the Churches of Christ. Those Vaughn Park, College Hills, Landmark, University and Brentwood Hills boys are just the same. They have the same battle scars from jumping off something, and the same big muscles from picking up little kids to play airplane in the inner cities. They have those same eyes that remind you that they've seen the world the way you see it, too. 

Now girls, if you're reading this and you think you have found a boy that fits this- you don't. Because until you have cried on one of their shoulders or been scared to death with on a mission trip with a true man after God's own heart, you will never know what this is. 

I praise Him so much for spoiling me with these boys. The idea that they exist reminds me to be a lady. It reminds me that my only test to see if a boy is worthy should be that he finds my heart while trying to find God. Maya Angelou said, "A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.' How true that is. 

Grace, Hope and Peace.

-jg