Todd Wilson's Familyman Weekly
Like Father, Like Son
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
 1 of 1
Hey, Dad,
This morning started out leisurely … just the three of us lying in bed at 6:20 a.m. … me, my wife, and Abe, our two–year–old human locomotive. I tried to avoid eye contact with him knowing that he would counteract with pinching my nose or sitting on my head.
Most mornings, I hear the pitter patter of little feet and then an unnerving stillness as he stands within a foot of my face.
"Eat! eat!" he announces. Not "Good morning, father; how did you sleep?" Just the sleep shattering, "Eat! eat!"
"Hi, Abe; you're up bright and early," I said cheerfully this morning.
"Eat, eat!"
"Get up in bed with us."
"Eat, eat!"
"I know you want to eat, but it's not time to eat yet."
Moments later, I actually thought he had fallen back asleep, but my wife told me he was quietly lying beside me, imitating me.
I was on my back with my hands folded across my chest so he lay on his back as well. Debbie said he turned his head, studied me, and then folded his hands just like mine. He looked again and then adjusted his position a little more.
He was trying to be just like his dad.
They all are, really. My children want to be like me. Even scarier is the fact that they will be like me. They will like McDonalds, sing loud and obnoxiously, laugh easily, and wear loud Hawaiian shirts. That's fine and dandy, but the ugly truth is that they will also imitate the part of me that I don't like … the part I'd like to pretend doesn't exist. But it does exist, and I'm passing it along to my children as well.
The good news is that it doesn't have to be that way. I can change … they need me to change … I must change. They don't need me to be perfect (it's a good thing, too). They just need me to be real, authentic, trust God, and confess when I've blown it.
You know, dad? Your kids will be like you, too. For good or bad, they imitate you. So if you don't want your children to smoke, then don't smoke. If you want them to talk respectfully to their mother, then treat your wife with gentleness. If you want them to have self–control, then you need to control yourself. If you want them to trust God, then … you need to trust Him, even when life gets kind of scary.
Sounds hard, but I know you can do it, because …
You 'da dad!
[Todd]
©Copyright Todd Wilson, 2003. Used by permission.
Men of Integrity
Connect with God | Transform my Mind | Live by His Power
Relate Better | Make an Impact
Home | Archives | Contact Us
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Try an Issue of Men of Integrity
Free!
|
 |
|
No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders.
If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless.
Give Men of Integrity as a gift
Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
share this page
RSS Feed
