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Key Bible Verse: Those who … turn many to righteousness will shine like stars forever Daniel 12:3Bonus Reading:Luke 11:33-36

I was walking my daughter home after a youth rally one clear summer evening. As we marveled at the stars spangled overhead, I saw an airplane cruising some ten thousand feet above us, its lights dimly visible. "Courtney," I pointed, "see those lights?"

"Yes, Daddy. What is it?"

"It's a jet, sweetheart. See how dim those lights are?"

"You can barely see them!"

"They light up a runway when the plane is on the ground, but the farther away they are, the dimmer they get. See that bright star near the plane?" I continued. "It's thousands of times brighter than our sun, but it's more than ten million light years away, so it looks like a tiny dot."

"That's awesome, Dad!"

Just then a lightning bug only a few feet from us lit up brightly, outshining both airplane and star!

I was suddenly struck by this parenting principle: our kids are exposed to all the dazzle media fantasy-makers can muster, including music and seductive messages in TV commercials. The steady beam of my biblical values may not glitter. But I can still shine that beam close to those precious eyes that look to me for direction, and keep it there every waking hour!

—Joe White in What Kids Wish Parents Knew about Parenting

My Response: I'll thank God for the unrivalled influence I wield with my children.

Thought to Apply: What a father says to his children is not heard by the world, but it will be heard by posterity.—Jean Paul Eixhter (writer)

Adapted from What Kids Wish Parents Knew about Parenting (Howard, 1998) by permission.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Help me, Lord, to be a constant, consistent presence in the life of my children, nudging them toward a life that pleases You.

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