Day 18
not too long ago, as heather and i sat watching our shows we had on the dvr, emma comes around the corner really trying to keep her balance...i looked down and she had my running shoes on...she was trying her hardest to walk in my shoes...not too long after that, Parker came in talking in a real high voice and swinging his hips back and forth with a pair of his mom's cheetah print high heels on...to my surprise, he was walking pretty good...he was showing us they had the same shoe size and he was filling her shoes....i remember ethan wanting to put on my hunting boots...as i sat him in them, he started walking in my shoes...faith loves to get in her mom's closet and try on shoes and stand in the mirror and look at herself...she's filling her mommas shoes...
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| taken by: Matthew Spencer |
my buddy posted this pic on his blog...i started thinking about how i used to wear my dad's cowboy boots around and thought it was the coolest thing...maybe some of you are thinking right now about when you did that too....
when i was young, i thought it was crazy when my parents would tell me to do something and i remember thinking, i will not do that when i am a dad...guess what, i do the same thing they did...i act and say things to my kids sometimes, and i sound just like my parents...i ended up filling their shoes...being like them...acting like them...becoming them...not in all ways, but in many...
seeing this pic made me realize, as a parent, it is my responsibility to teach my kids in the right way...you know, i remember some of the talks that me and my parents had, but i remember when they took action more than anything...
as parents, we are leaving behind a legacy...one day they will fill our shoes...one day, they will be the mom's and dad's...one day they will be worrying about mortgages and bills...all the while thinking about their children just like we do with them...
you see, we worry about making sure they do good in school so they can graduate...we worry about their college fund so they can end up with a great job...we worry about making sure they are fitting in at school and not made fun of...we worry about making sure they can fill the shoes we find important for them and the whole time we forget something...
we need to worry about their relationship to God...all the other stuff i mentioned is important, but which is more important....knowing God or knowing the other stuff....
Proverbs 22 tells us
"Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."
Ephesians 6 tells us
"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."
i am learning it doesn't take long for our kids to grow up...have we trained them in the way of the Lord...
Challenge:
What legacy do you want to pass to your children?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Challenge 2:
Tell them about it....Set them down and tell them what you want to pass to them...it does 2 things when we do this...
1. we set the expectations
2. we have something to hold ourselves accountable too
when it all comes down to it, they aren't filling our shoes...we have shoes to fill....
justinpresley1977@gmail.com
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