the power of a role model...

This is my daughter Sarah, her next door neighbor, and my baby daughter Zoe out for an afternoon run.

They ran from our house to the stop sign (top right) and back--probably four hundred yards. 

They went for a run because...

This is my wife (in pink on the right) on her cool down walk after a run with her friend.  They ran 6.5 km's.

My daughters run because my wife runs.

My son has started blogging because his Daddy does.  

My baby boy loves cars 'cause I do.

My marriage is strong 'cause my parents' was.

I believe because they did.

I won't be surprised if my kids end up living outside the margins, doing what they love, and leveraging the story of our faith--when appropriate and in the right contexts--into the things they do.

'Cause, when it all comes down to it, you tend to grow as you've been grown.

And that's something to think about with your kids.  What are your habits?  What kind of marriage are they seeing you display?  Do they know you love your work or know that you live for the weekend?  Do they see you chasing your wife around the house or ignoring her?  Do they see you pray and read and believe or do the see you paying lip-service?  Do they hear you trying to treat the people you work with with respect or do they know you don't really give a rat about anybody else?  

To lesser degree this kind of 'leading by example' works at work too.  Now, let it be said, that not everyone you work with or know will respond to your example.  Many will just go on doing their thing and will remain contemptuous of your ethic, attitude and demeanor no matter how hard you try, but there will also be some who (to quote the apostle) 'mimic your way of life' and that influence is probably some of the most effective influence you will ever have.

Just like you shape your kids you just might shape those around you--and through them their sphere of influence and so on and so forth--until the culture of your town might begin shifting towards the good, the pure, the lovely.

So, how 'bout it?  Ready to set an example?  On-set, on-stage, in-pulpit, at board meeting? If you are, get your shoes on and start running.

T