By: Marco De Leon

In a few short days, by God's grace, I will be blessed with an amazing woman, Rebecca, of who I will be given the pleasure of calling my wife in addition to having an awesome 8-year old son, Seth.

The first thoughts that cross my mind are that I must lead out of humility, patience, and selflessness.

Humility

I can give you a list of reasons as to why I absolutely love my Mexican-American culture, but unfortunately humility is not one of them. My culture tagged the "macho" in Machismo and stands firm in the "I" of pride. Humility is weak. Humility is not manly. But for my bride, she needs to see that I cannot do it on my own a part from my relationship with Jesus Christ. And my son needs to see his dad shed tears because in my weakness, the Lord is strong.

Patience

I was raised by two teachers and fortunately patience was a virtue greatly instilled because with work comes time so you might as well wait. My bride needs to be comforted because just like me she has a story; one covered in truth and redemption, but the pain and hurt is difficult to forget. As I lead, I must be patient in an effort to serve her better. I get to watch my son play baseball and as I teach him the value of sports, I will need to coach with patience because the philosophy of "figure it out" is cancerous.

Selflessness

My father and I differ in beliefs and teaching, but he taught me that the man comes last when there is a family. Their needs become priority; spiritual, emotional, and physical. My goal is to point my family to the cross of Jesus, especially in my failure. That is contrary to my culture but a pillar in my faith as a follower of Christ.

The Wedding

I love Rebecca more than she could know, but it has only been possible because Jesus loved me first. My love for Seth grows deeper each day and just like Jesus adopted me into His line, I can do the same with Seth and he will never be snatched from my hand.