What will be your story?

Moms and Dads, whether you realize it or not, you are writing a story for the world around you to read. Every day you add a page to this story that tells something about you, even the things you would like to be kept secret. Sure, you may be able to put on your poker face and fool most of the people in your life, but you are still telling the story and you may not even realize it. You are telling your story through your children. Your young children do not have a poker face. How we live, think, act, believe, respond, and choose will be directly reflected in the lives of our children. If we are harsh with our children, they will be harsh with others. If we are selfish parents, we will have selfish children. If we are irresponsible, we will have irresponsible children. In the same regard, if we are kind and gentle parents, we will have kind and gentle children. If we love others, our children will love others. If we are generous, our children will be generous.

 Some call this story we write our legacy. About a year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to reflect on what kind of legacy, or story, I was writing. I saw that it was one of perfectionism, harshness, selfishness, and results…and I didn’t like what I saw. It was not only affecting me, but the people I cared about the most. It was time for a change. As a husband and father I realized I must follow the example of Jesus if I was to leave a story worth reading. I must lead like He led. I must love like He loved. I wasn’t sure how to do this because I only had a surface level relationship with Him. My life had been decaying because I had not been feeding on the Word of God. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" I started to consume His words and let them penetrate my heart. I started to see life being breathed back into my story. I saw that results were not what was important, rather it was relationships that mattered the most. You get to write your own story. What do you want your story to say?