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In Our Footsteps

"Be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."¹

Lee Strobel tells about a mother from California, who told about the day her three-year old son was on her heels wherever she went. She was having trouble completing her to-do list.

"Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back around I would trip over him," she said. "Several times I suggested fun activities to keep him occupied, but he would just smile and say, 'That's alright Mommy I'd rather be in here with you.' He continued to follow me and after the fifth trip, my patience wore thin and I asked him why he was following me constantly."

He said, "My Sunday school teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps but I can't see him so I'm walking in yours."

As a mother of young children, this story sounds all too familiar! My children always want to follow me, do what I do, and think every game is better when I play with them. It is easy to get frustrated and ask that they occupy themselves with other activities, but what a difference it would make if we saw each moment as an opportunity to be as Jesus to them! Imagine the great impact our testimony could have in their own faith journeys. This is not only true for parents, but for grandparents as well. The greatest way we can teach our children about the love of Jesus is through the example of how we live, and how we model his love in our everyday life.

I once heard someone say, "We raise not the children we want but the children that we the parents are."

Suggested prayer, "Dear God, thank you for the gift of being a mother (or father). Please help me make the most of each moment. Help the way I live to be a reflection of your love, so that when my children follow in my footsteps, I can be certain it will lead them to you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV).

 

Today's Encounter was written by: Crystal B.