We grew up together; now we blog together. In the B/S Chronicles you’ll get to experience viewpoints from a brother/sister team…who may or may not always see things eye-to-eye.
I’m not going to lie to you… Leadership is a tough topic to rant about because it’s one of those topics that everyone knows enough about that it becomes a bit bland. Take my current Group Leadership class for example… for the most part, every discussion and reading assignment is generic and cliche. The case study and essays are pretty interesting, but most people have a decent understanding of the characteristics of good quality leadership. Granted, not everyone implements these into their own lives, but I digress…
I was struck with an interesting question concerning leadership a week or so ago and how it related in my role as a father as one of (along with my wife of course) the leaders of my family. From a spiritual perspective, it’s pretty simple for me to equate the two: I want to lead my family by example. If my life continually reflects Jesus, then I’ve done all I can do. I do other practical / hands-on things to try and develop a sense of spiritual responsibility to help my family reproduce the relationship with Christ that I have, but I accept that I cannot force the issue.
Reflection and Reproducing: perhaps at the end of the day, that is all it takes… but I also know that in my life, considering my personality and habits, I have to find creative ways for reflection and reproduction to take place. Some people are natural story tellers… not just with their words, but with their actions… not just at bed time, but at all times… They teach life-lessons and reflect Christ so naturally that their kids can’t help but glean something. That’d be great, but i’m just not that way. If I’m completely honest with myself I know that if I’m not intentional as a spiritual leader of my family, I could easily be one of those dads who loves his kids a great deal, maybe even has a decent amount of influence on their life, but still knows very little about them. That’s not something to be proud of…
It’s a weird balance… sometimes intentional blows up in my face. You know, like the guy who makes every movie into a Christian Allegory? or the one tries to make every situation into a profound learning experience? Who wants to be that guy? Not me… it’s annoying. But there are definitely times when i’m left sitting in awkward silence as my girls smirk at me in that oh so snarky way that screams “WHATEVER WEIRDO!!” But, hey… I can take that if it means that other times turn into great conversations … – It’s amazing how much a 10 year old can teach you about love, forgiveness, and grace…
Thankfully I’ve got my wife by my side. She keeps me honest with how much or little time I’m spending intentionally developing my relationship with my girls. It’s not always easy, but it’s certainly always worth it… … …
Check out Lindsey’s take (the S of the B/S Chronicles) on Leadership here