Boot Camp Encouragement Quotes

Nice to have you back, girl,” he said softly. Then he turned to Alyss. “Ready to go?” She held up a hand. “One thing I have to take care of,” she said. She looked around the camp and spotted Petulengo, lurking guiltily by the goat pen. “Petulengo!” she called. Her voice was high and penetrating and he started, realizing he had been spotted. He looked around, seeking an escape route. But as he did so, Will unslung the massive longbow from his shoulder and casually plucked an arrow from his quiver. Suddenly, escaping didn’t seem like such a good idea. Then Alyss favored Petulengo with her most winning smile. “Don’t be frightened, dear,” she said soothingly. “I just want to say good-bye.” She beckoned to him, smiling encouragingly, and he stepped forward, gradually gaining in confidence as he realized that, somehow, he had won the favor of this young woman. Some of his old swagger returned as he approached and stood before her, urged a little closer by that smile. Underneath the ash and the dirt, he thought, she was definitely a looker. He gave her a smile in return. Petulengo, it has to be said, fancied himself with the ladies. Treat ’em rough and they’ll eat out of your hand, he thought. Then the smile disappeared like a candle being blown out. He felt a sudden jolt of agony in his right foot. Alyss’s heavy boot, part of Hilde’s wardrobe, had stamped down on his instep, just below the ankle. He doubled over instinctively, gasping with pain. Then Alyss pivoted and drove the heel of her open left hand hard into his nose, snapping his head back and sending him reeling. His arms windmilled and he crashed over onto the hard-packed dirt of the compound. He lay groggily, propped up on his elbows, coughing as blood coursed down the back of his throat. “Next time you throw firewood at an old lady,” Alyss told him, all traces of the winning smile gone, “make sure she can’t do that.” She turned to Will and dusted her hands together in a satisfied gesture. “Now I’m ready to go,” she said.

THE FRENCH HAVE a saying: ‘You can’t go faster than the music’. They believe that a child will roll over, rise to his feet, become potty trained and start to talk when he’s good and ready. Lovingly encourage and support him – don’t try to rush his development or turn his childhood into boot camp. Being a little kid shouldn’t be hard work. There’s time enough for that later.

We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: Boys need to see that emotions belong in the life of a man. And they need to learn how to identify, resolve, and express their emotions. If a dad doesn’t know how to do this himself (and many men don’t), he needs to learn how so he can pass that wisdom on to his son. If that’s the situation you find yourself in, let us encourage you to get plugged into a men’s group, or see a counselor, or go on a men’s retreat (like the ones offered by John Eldredge at his Ransomed Heart Boot Camps).