Have you ever wondered how people might describe you when you aren’t around? I thought about this the other day when I took my three little ones to the grocery store. Usually my oldest son Josh is with us, but today he was at school while we went. When we got to the bakery section where they give cookies to the kids the bakery lady was handing out frosted pumpkin sugar cookies-Josh’s favorite. She looked around our little crew and said, “Oh no! The excited one isn’t here!” Josh makes a name for himself wherever we go. And as descriptions go “the excited one” is pretty accurate for Josh. He is passionate about just about everything in life, including grocery shopping trips and sugar cookies. He is always so grateful and happy when his favorite cookies are being handed out and that joy is pretty contagious.
As a parent, there are so many lessons I work to teach my kids. They come to us knowing just about nothing and needing so much direction and instruction, but this is an area where I want to learn from Josh. When I’m not around, I hope people describe me as somebody who is excited about life, who is friendly and encouraging. I hope whatever my personality might be like, people feel Christ’s love and joy when they are with me. And I hope that as we are parenting our children we are looking for the ways they are teaching us, too. Their passion for life can be an inspiration to us all.