Bickering voices.
Unthankful hearts.
Critical spirits.
Rebellious attitudes.
A lack of service,
An abundance of self.
These are the things I correct, daily, in my children. These are the attitudes and actions that get verbal reprimands and long time-outs. And yet, while so much of my attention these days at home is given to trying to train out the ugly in them, I read something that has left me wondering what kind of job I am doing. . .
A Line. I was glancing over one of my favorite blog-writers, Ann Voskamp, this week at A Holy Experience. She’s a Canadian farmer’s wife with six children, beautiful photography skills, and a pen that writes of life and truth and faith with artistic power. And while I can’t identify with her lifestyle (my kids don’t shuck corn in the summer or do chores at 5 am), I am deeply moved by much of what she writes. One line was hidden among a post she wrote recently about her kids, and it was simply,
I can’t remember the name of the post or even what the rest of the writing was about, but I haven’t forgotten that one statement. “If I led better, you would follow better.”
My Leadership. And I think of my own little followers–the three young hearts that are around me for more hours in a day than anyone else on earth–and I am sobered and humbled. I have to ask myself, “In what ways am I teaching them . . .
a critical spirit towards others,
a selfish attitude that resents serving,
a distracted mind that is too busy for building relationships,
a faith that doesn’t really change my daily life,
a God that is more about rules than heart,
a love that is convenient instead of extravagant and costly?”
And I know, I know, I am not totally responsible for their choices or their inner failings (which is a thread common in all of humanity). If Jesus Himself had biological kids on earth, I know He would have had to send them to time-out every now and again, but it still leaves me wondering. I have to wonder if my own personal character and faith is a larger force on their hearts and behavior than any time-out I could enforce, lecture I could speak, or punishment I could hand out.
And, so, once again on this journey of motherhood, I am left reminded that–surprise, surprise– I do not have it all together. I am left more dependent on a God who is in the business of redeeming my mistakes, and I am left inspired to not neglect my own heart and attitudes in the training of theirs.
For You. As you walk through this next week, may you be aware of how you are leading those around you–your co-workers, the students in your class, your kids–and may your leadership, your way of being and loving, inspire your followers to greater living.
ALifeOverseas.com / LauraParkerBlog.com.
Destined Traveler.
