Editor-In-Chief of Country Line Magazine and Ministry Leader at Kids Outdoor Zone

 TJ Greaney
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Life and Times of a Believer, a Husband and a Dad - Every Monday

Grown Men Don't Cry
(A bit about my life and ministry)

I am one of the meanest old congers you would never want to run across on the wrong day. I can take a nail in the hand, a half dozen bee stings and a thump on the head from a falling 2x4, and I keep going. I was kinda raised that way; if you got soft, you got eaten alive.

I also have a darker, scarier side -- a little softy guy who cries in church and while watching television commercials. What the heck? I don't usually wail away with sobs and water pouring from my eyes, but there can be tears and a stifled breath. It seems like this guy comes more often now as I get older, too. I am thinking if it keeps up I am going to keep a hammer in my pocket in case I have to get the tough guy back quickly.

I grew up in a broken home. When my parents divorced, like so many do, I decided to go out on my own. I was in my early teens. I could have gone and lived with my mom, but it did not work out that way. I remember the night I got tough. It was on an interstate highway in Alabama in the middle of a cold night when it started to sprinkle. I had nowhere to go and knew absolutely no one. I was traveling and knew at that moment that if I lost it, I would not survive. So I got tough, I shut down, I just did not allow myself to go there. That tool has stuck with me; it is a familiar tool to many.

Many adults today lived the same life I did. Many had it a lot worse and some of the kids today -- forget it, it is just bad. It is kids today who can really bring out that monster softy guy inside me most often. I think of that boy, me, walking across the field cold, wet, hungry and scared in the middle of the night with no place to go. I don't want that for any child. All lost kids want is someone to love them, to actually care for them, a home. For most of them it is not their fault they are where they are or they have disfunctional parents.

Boys need to be tough and compassionate. They need love and discipline. They need to explore and sit quietly. They need to be boys. It doesn't matter what age their bodies are either. I know many a lost sad boy who lives in a 40-year-old body.

My mom tells a story about when I was young and told her when I grew up I was going to get a ranch and help out lost boys. That was before my parents split and before I was lost and alone. Today I am part of a new ministry that shares the outdoors with boys who need loving. Destiny. God's plan for me - predestined? Yes, I believe so.

Me, personally, I know better than to watch Terms of Endearment before I have to meet with a bunch of tough guys about chunks of metal, dirt or horses. I am learning to bring a bandana to church in case - and when I am driving alone in my truck, if the band Mercy Me comes on the radio, there's a good chance I am gonna tear up so I have some baby wipes under the console.

We are looking for a ranch if you know anyone who wants to donate or help with it. We will trade our home for a small piece out there somewhere if we can. As for me and the soft guy, I am just going to go with it. Chicks dig the compassionate soft type. My wife really likes it, and that new shirt of mine, is Salmon, not pink.

Link: Wayne Gaines Director M300 Ministries is connected to TJ Greaney as both have been in communication of late about the ranch property which TJ is searching for for the Kids Outdoor Zone.

By permission TJ Greaney/ Kids Outdoor Zone