Pablo Ceron: When the Boy You Buried Shows Up

Written By Paul McDonald

A New Series: Stories Behind Wild at Heart: The Series

 Every man carries wounds—some buried deep, some tearing through the surface, some leaving them questioning everything. Wild at Heart: The Series is an invitation to step into the stories of men who have faced their deepest wounds—and found that God was there all along.

Over the next few episodes, we will have conversations with the men who were a part of this project. We started with Daniel to explore his calling as a filmmaker and how he holds up a mirror to help men see their stories the way God does. Next we sit down with each man featured in the series—Mark, Pablo, Leo, and Sam—real men who have faced crisis, trauma, and failure, and who have found healing, redemption, and restoration.

If you haven't watched the series yet, check it out on the Wild at Heart YouTube channel. Watch the trailer or dive straight into the prologue. Then join us here as we unpack the stories that didn't make the final cut—and the films that reveal the transformation and hope that mark these men's lives.

Pablo’s story can be found here.

Download your study guide here.

At some point, most men bury the boy they used to be, not because they wanted to lose him, but because life demanded they become someone else. But buried does not mean gone. In Disney's The Kid, 40-year-old Russ is literally confronted by his 8-year-old self. For Pablo, the reckoning came through a marriage crisis that required him to recover the younger self he had tried to forget. Transformation is not about fixing what's broken, but integrating the parts of ourselves we thought we had to leave behind.

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The Quotes

  • Our attempts to save ourselves get in the way of what we actually want.

  • It’s not about making that painful part disappear, it’s about finding the treasure that part represents.

  • Healing comes through union with Christ.

  • The way we treat our own heart will become the way we treat everyone.

  • Once our chains are broken, we have a choice.

 Themes

  • Burial as Survival: You buried the boy to survive what life demanded

  • Buried Doesn’t Mean Gone: Ignored parts of the heart will resurface

  • Integration, Not Elimination: Healing comes from bringing love to what was wounded

  • Choices Shape Identity: What you choose shapes who you become

Resources

Questions

  • Who have you become? What words would describe that man?

  • What impact do you have on the people entrusted to my care?

  • When has disruption been a rescue?

  • What is the gap between the man you are and the man you want to be?

  • What happened to my childhood dreams?

  • What parts have been showing up? When do you feel younger than your age?

  • What would it look like to ask Jesus to reinterpret some of the painful scenes of your life?

More info

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Logo and episode templates by Ian Johnston

Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead).

Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock.

Links:

Paul McDonald
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