Craig Clouston

Sewing Good Seeds

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

Proverbs 22:6

I watched as my son-in-law, Corey, and my son, Eric, walked my parent's rural property with my granddaughter, Jozlyn, following Easter dinner. The 62 degree day was a welcomed change from the grip of a winter that had been both cold and snowy, and up until three weeks ago seemed it would never release it's death-grip.

Watching succeeding generations follow in our footsteps brought a smile to my face. We had invested both time and love in our children, praying they would become good examples for their peers, and role models for their children. They had, indeed, become individuals of integrity and wisdom.

I watched as Corey swept brush out of Jozlyn's way with his foot, mindful that her little feet and legs might easily became entangled in the prickly weeds of winter. My smile widened as the height of imitation played out before me.

Like a track sprinter backing into the starting blocks, seventeen-month-old Jozlyn, bent down, placed her hands on her daddy's shoe, and with one foot, shoved at the weeds she had just witnessed Daddy brush out of the way. Stretching her little body, Jozlyn continued pushing at the one single weed that refused to yield.

“Keep pushing, Little J,” Daddy encouraged.

Resetting herself, she stretched as far as her little body could reach. The defiant weed moved! She stood, looking up...

“That's my big girl!” came the response she had worked so hard for.

And with that, they continued their stroll.

†

What do we look like to our children? What do their innocent little eyes see when we're not paying attention? Do we want them to imitate those actions? Do we exhibit good moral character, or inadvertently teach them things we'd rather they not witness?

In the same way today's text suggests that parents teach their children the right way to live so they won't forget went they get older, our actions can just as easily give them a heritage of destruction to fall back on.

Everything we do and every step we take is an example of how we view life, and what we are teaching the next generation to emulate.

It requires mindful investment to raise good kids, intentionally showing them how to be honest and trustworthy. We will reap what we have sown.

What kind of adults do you want your to children to become?

Prayer

“Help me be the right example for my children and the world, Lord. Amen.”