As my family travels this road together I have to constantly remind myself that I am under the watchful eye of my children. It makes sense to me since we’re stuck in this car together for the long haul. I have to remember that I am in the front seat and they are in the back seat for a purpose. The safest place for children is in the backseat is what they say, right?
As I sit in the front seat, I am enjoying the scenery and my brain is full of ideas of where we are going and what the end goal will look like. I have all these ideas about what I’d like my children to be like and then it hits me…am I everything I expect them to be? So it sends my brain off on another tangent full of questions for myself.
I want my children to be readers. Am I making sure that they see me read regularly? I want my children to not just go to church on Sundays. I want them to have a relationship with the Lord every day of the week. Am I living that out on a daily basis for them to see? I want them to know the importance of reading their Bible every day. Do they see me do that? It’s one thing to be doing these things, but do they actually see me doing them? Honestly, it’s easier to get up early and read my Bible before they wake up each morning, but how will they know the importance of that if it’s not modeled for them. I’m sure I could talk my brains out about it, but I don’t think it would be as effective. The concept of “do as I say and not as I do” is not an option for me.
What about my eating habits. I want them to eat healthy. Do I eat healthy or do I eat junk because it’s fast and convenient? I want them to tell the truth and not lie. Do my children hear me “beef up” my stories and in essence lie? Do they know things I have done during the day and then see me try to hide them from my husband? What message does that send? I want them to have an attitude of gratefulness. Am I a grateful person? Genuineness is an attribute I’d like to see in my children. If I am fake, how will they learn to be genuine? What about considering others more important than myself and serving others. That seems like a good thing to want for my children. Being forgiving sounds good too. Am I doing these things first?
What about the things I need to set as an example NOT to do? I grew up with an example of yelling and cussing when you are frustrated or angry. Whether I like to admit it or not, that example influenced how I have dealt with anger. Before I had children I vowed that I would not repeat that cycle. It has been a struggle, but by daily submitting this area to God, I have been able to make huge strides in this area, but it is still a temptation to deal with things in this manner. Even just this morning as we were running out the door to soccer and we discovered that everyone and everything was loaded in the car but one of my children did not have their shoes or socks. The temptation was great for me to “lose it” and I’d like to say that I was more successful than I really was. I once heard this quote that continues to kick me in the pants to keep pressing on to be what I hope for my children to be. I want to be the one that stops the cycle. I do not want to pass this habit on to my children and my children’s children.
“My sins of moderation will be my children’s sins of excess.”
So whether it be that I am an example to encourage my children to be something great or whether it is to break the cycle of something that was modeled to me, I will keep in the forefront of my mind that I am in the front seat of this car for a reason so I must work hard at making sure that I am on the right path before I can expect my children to follow.
