I'm a model!

No, no - not THAT kind of model! Puh-leez. I won't be gracing the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition anytime soon, that's for sure.

But I am a model.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the vision Hubby and I have for our children - the kind of people we want our children to grow up to be, whether they be doctors, actors, professional golfers, waiters, or garbage truck drivers. We want them to love God with all their hearts. We want them to genuinely love others. We want them to deeply love and respect their immediate family. We want them to receive their self-esteem from Jesus Christ. We want them to develop their God-given skills and talents and be productive members of society. And we want them to be difference-makers for God. I think all this is God's vision for them, too, and these are the things we want to teach them.

"My son, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands." Proverbs 2:1

The past couple of weeks have been crazy, and my vision for my children has taken a back-seat to the stress of hurricane recovery. Or so I thought. My children have been watching how I handle all this stuff we've been dealing with lately. Like little sponges, they absorb my image, taking the good, the bad, and the ugly into their own core - a core that will be the basis from which they conduct their lives. How am I doing? Am I modeling what I want my children to become?

"I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." John 13:15

So many of life's lessons are "caught" as well as "taught"; by letting my kids into my world, letting them see my faith, my love of God, and yes, even my struggles, they are "catching" these lessons for themselves. It's the "Guide from the Side" approach, rather than the "Sage from the Stage" style of teaching. So I can look back on these past couple of weeks and know that my children have seen me love God and put my faith in Him; they have seen me struggle with indecision and fear, and work thru those struggles with prayer; they have seen me love my family and help them; they have seen me reach out in Christian love to help other people; they have seen me cry at my own frustrations. I am trying so hard to be the type of person I want them to become. And oh, I have many short-comings, things about me that I don't want for them - those are the times I want to say, "Do as I say, not as I do!" But you know what? It's OK for them to see me be imperfect, too. Perfection is too hard to live up to. But if I can "walk the talk" when it comes to my vision for them, then I'd say that makes me a supermodel.