It’s a Junior National. I hope you’ve kept that priority in mind throughout the week and enjoyed your young people mentoring them correct, watching your tongue and making sure that our behaviors reflect that of our Lord and make sure that we are incorporating that into the values of our kids. We can’t idolize showing. We can’t idolize winning. There’s a bigger picture here, make sure you’ve always got it down. None of us always do, but we have to strive for that and the pursuit that we are in life. That is the objective. So, I hope you have come to the Junior Nationals because that was your goal – and if it’s not, maybe center it up a little bit. Get the car back in between the mustard and the mayonnaise and say, “Hey, look, we got a little caught up here trying to win a cow show; and we have to redirect a little bit of our energy.” I remember last week on Father’s Day, I have two little girls, we went out to eat and I said, “I love both of you dearly. You’re going to have one shot here to tell your daddy what he can do better to be a better daddy, because I’m not perfect. Karlee very quickly said, ‘I know.’ And I knew it was coming. ‘Dad, you could probably not yell quit as
much when we are working our cattle. You could hold your tongue a little bit more.’ And I said, ‘You know what, you’re right.’ I said, ‘I’m not perfect, none of us are. I’m going to do better. I’m going to try to do better. I’ll fail again, but I’ll try to do better.’ We all need to try to do better in terms of how we handle this project, because it can get out of hand. One of my favorite bible verses is simply that, ‘It’s easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the gates of Heaven.’ That’s not to say that it’s not good to get rich in this world, right. We’re all striving to get successful and be comfortable in our way of living. But if you get too comfortable in your way of living, you may lose that priority in the center of why you are here, why you exist. We are raising these kids to ultimately end up with the goal of salvation. So, as you all balance that, I’m not here to preach, I’m not a pastor, but I just think it’s important to always keep those things in mind.
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Ryan Rathmann 2023 The Sweet Life MaineTainer Junior National Judge
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