How are we Influencing our Children?

Influencing our Children

I was thinking this morning.... about how my birthday yesterday made me reflect on the impact I am having on my children. I remember being at lunch with my colleagues some time ago when one related her experience after she left church one Sunday. According to her, while driving very slowly through the potholes on the road to her estate, a female driver behind her, with kids in the vehicle, was getting impatient. At the slightest opportunity, the driver overtook her, blocked her and brought her hand from the car and said the Nigerian curse word 'wanka.' Immediately, the passenger in my colleague's car shouted in disbelief that the lady driver was her home cell leader and just left church with them. Wow!!! So much for living by example, but it got me thinking about the example the lady was setting for her kids that were in the vehicle with her. How will her actions of today influence the behavior of her children tomorrow? But wait a minute, are we more influenced by our immediate family or by our peers/bosses or by the environment (neighborhood) we grew up?

 

I reflected on how growing up in Warri had made me a  Warri boy (you will not miss my waffi pidgin English.) If my parents had listened to my prodding to relocate to Miami when I was in the womb, imagine how my Yankee intonation will be. Nothing spoil. There is power in environmental influence.

 

As I sunk into deeper thoughts, I recalled visiting my children in school recently. Having feted with the children, it was time to give the hugs and see them back to their hostels. Then I observed a parent stuffing chocolate into the socks of her daughter to help her beat the rule prohibiting taking of food and snacks to the hostel. I was stunned because I know this mother has just given her daughter a life lesson on how not to obey the law. Hmm!!! Parental influence is solid.

 

Have you thought lately about the influence you are having on others? It is a sobering thought. As I x-rayed what may have influenced me to becoming such a nice guy, I recalled a story of a car accident in which a teenage boy was killed. He and his friends had been drinking. When the police reached the home of the deceased boy and explained the details of his death, his father's immediate reaction was, 'if I could find who sold those boys that alcohol, I'd kill him!' The dad was so shaken up he went to his liquor cabinet for a drink and there found a note that read, 'Dear dad, I knew you wouldn't mind if we borrowed this bottle of liquor. We'll pay you back soon.' Hmm!!! He had provided his son the weapon that killed him.

 

Take a moment to evaluate the effect you're having on your kids and those around you and be certain it is positive. Just wondering the sort of influence our crooked leaders are having on children of today, it scares me to imagine what the future holds. In my little space, as I appreciate God and you all for the love shown me during my birthday yesterday, I have chosen to be guided by the words of Matthew 18:7, '...woe to that man through whom offence comes.'

 

Happy Sunday.

 

.....Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey.