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Examples for Our Children: They Need Good Heroes
By Marc | December 10, 2008
Last night, Julie was feeling a need to lie down for a while due to the pregnancy. The boys were playing with coloring books and stamp pads, so I decided I would take that time to read about a famous battle in my copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys
Anyway, while flipping through it, I started reading one of the “Extraordinary Stories” instead: “Robert Scott and the Antarctic”. If you don’t know about Robert Scott, his and his teammates’ story is one of determination, honor, and sacrifice for the sake of each other. They made two failed attempts to be the first to reach the South Pole (in an age when all maps were still blank after a certain point), getting there on the second try only to be beaten to the destination by a month. Although tragic, it’s one of the most heroic.
“After all we are setting a good example to our countrymen, if not by getting into a tight place, by facing it like men when we were there.” – Captain Robert Falcon Scott (written to Sir Francis Bridgeman)
This is a tale I want my sons to know, one ALL sons should know. Reading it, this verse sticks out in my mind:
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13
This is how we should all be teaching our children to live: in service to each other. I have had my moments in life of cowardice, selfishness, and arrogance. I don’t want those to be traits my boys pick up on. I want them to think of others more often than they think of themselves.
I’m not saying I’m hoping they’ll take a bullet for someone, but I hope that if they were put in a sticky situation, they would take the path of men rather than one of cowards.
I guess I really want my sons to be able to hold their heads high no matter what. Whatever happens, they can say, “I have no regrets; I did what was right.”
This is a short list (that will continue to grow) of things I try to I teach my sons and to do my best to show them it in my life rather than just telling them:
Stick up for the little guy
Respect women
Give to those more in need than yourself (Luke 3:11)
Never take friendship for granted
Don’t hesitate to do someone a solid
Honor God, your wife (or girlfriend), and your parents
Respect your elders, they deserve it
Respect not only those above you, but also your peers and those under you.
But I can’t just make them live one way when I have so many faults of my own. I have to be the one to live the example for them to emulate. We all do. I know it’s a hard road, but our children and the next generation depend on us. We need sons and daughters of honor, the greatest love, and bravery, not offspring of complacency, cowering, and finger-pointing.
Our kids should have as their heroes people like Robert Scott, Captain Lawrence Oates, Joan of Arc, the nameless guy on the bus who gives up his seat for someone who needs it, John Paul Jones, Mother Teresa, George Washington Carver, Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy, and George Müller, not the egos in the entertainment industry, not the politician hiding skeletons, not the singer who shows too much skin and curses like a sailor, and certainly not that guy down the street who will buy teenagers beer.
Aside from being good role models and exposing our kids to positive examples of a well-led life, how can we show our children how best to be their best?
Topics: Awesome People, Encouragement, Life and Living | No Comments »
