Imitate Me.... Do people really imitate us?

As I look around and see children of all ages (including my own), I am reminded of what a responsibility we have before us. We have a responsibility to be the godly example we should be to these children. You do not have to look hard to find bad examples. They are practically knocking our doors down. Just cut on the TV, or even look around while you are standing in the checkout line at the grocery store. What a big task is at hand!

Have any of you asked your children why they did a certain thing and gotten the response that I sometimes get from my little ones? The response is, "Well you do it..." Wow!!! That is an eye opener. As I thought about this I had a song that kept coming to my mind that my boys and I sing often! The first couple of lines say, "Your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks". That is basically saying the phrase "Actions speak louder than words".

Like it or not our little ones (and even bigger ones too) are watching us and while our words may whisper our actions shout. Paul says in I Corinthians 11:1 - "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ". That is our example that we should be the example, not by mere words, but by the way we live our lives, because I promise you someone is watching.

I have a quick story that brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye all at the same time and I would like to share it with you. It is an excerpt from "It's Always Something" by Gilda Radner and it is definitely something for each of us to think about.

"When I was little, my nurse Dibby's cousin had a dog, just a mutt, and the dog was pregnant. I don't know how long dogs are pregnant, but she was due to have her puppies in about a week. She was out in the yard one day and got in the way of the lawn mower and her two hind legs got cut off. They rushed her to the vet and he said, "I can sew her up, or you can put her to sleep if you want, but the puppies are okay. She'll be able to deliver the puppies."
Dibby's cousin said, "Keep her alive."
So the vet sewed up her backside, and over the next week the dog learned to walk. She didn't spend any time worrying, she just learned to walk by takin two steps in the front and flipping up her backside, and then taking two steps and flipping her backside again. She gave birth to six little puppies, all in perfect health. She nursed them and then weaned them. And when they learned to walk, they all walked like her."

While that is a cute and funny story it leaves us to think - Wow, my walk in life matters, and do I feel confident enough in my walk to tell my children and others to follow my example!