All Hat, No Cowboy

I’m sure I picked up the phrase from some movie.  We use it in our house as sort of a “catch all” for people that seem really great, but when you dig a little deeper…well, their outsides don’t match their insides.  And at least every cowboy I have ever known—well, what you see is what you get—and no matter how deep you dig, they are who they are all the way through.  Their actions match who they say they are.

But then there are the ones who just wear the hat, and you think they are all cowboy, but once you start talking to them, well….they’re just “All Hat, No Cowboy”.  Their actions just don’t match who they say they are.

Grace, our nine-year old daughter, particularly likes to use this phrase if the conversation turns to some superstar like Justin What’s-His-Name.  She will grumble “All Hat, No Cowboy”, and we all know what that means. 

A phrase like that requires a standard.  You know, a reference point.  Who do you compare the new subject to in deciding if they are “All Hat, No Cowboy” or “All Cowboy”?  For Grace, I think her standard is a spectacular choice.  It’s her daddy.  Because he is definitely “All Cowboy”.  With or without the hat.

And his outsides match his insides at all times.

As a family, I think last year we experienced just how “All Cowboy” he really is.  From the very beginning when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, Vern kept his faith in the Lord, continued to lead our family with a servant’s heart, and handed out a bus load of encouragement to his wife with unceasing devotion.

He actions match who he says he is.  At.  All. Times.

Looking back, I am not sure that I have thanked him enough.  In fact, I have to confess that sometimes I have treated him like he is “All Hat”.  And I wonder, Ladies.  Are we doing a good job nurturing the cowboy in our husbands?  Because God did not create our men to be “All Hat”.  He created them to be “All Cowboy”.