Saturday, February 26, 2011

A few years ago Carter came home from school and I asked him what he did at school. He responded that he had counseled 7 of his friends. I was dumbfounded and after picking my jaw off the floor, I asked another question about what he was counseling his friends about. He responded by saying, “Dad its confidential.” I guess there may be another counselor in the Gorton household. It is wonderful to have your son or daughter follow in your footsteps when those footsteps are good. I just got off the phone with my oldest daughter who is a psychologist in Virginia Beach, VA and she brings stimulating conversation each and every time that I interact with her. Her faith in God is an encouragement to my daily walk with the Savior

But unfortunately, children can as well begin to copy the negative things of our life as in the case of the passage of scripture I read in my quiet time this morning. Samuel who was a godly leader to the nation of Israel had two sons, Joel and Abijah. It was said of them that, “they turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.” (I Samuel 8:2) Now Samuel was a godly man so you might be asking the question, “How does this relate to your heading when they didn’t follow in their father’s footsteps.”

The answer lies in what Samuel saw growing up as he lived with Eli, the priest of Israel. The beginning of this terrible legacy is found in I Samuel 2:12+ where is says, “Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. As you read on in the story, you find that Eli never disciplined his sons or punished them for their wrongs so they continued in their destructive behavior. Samuel grew up looking at the parenting of Eli with his sons, so when Samuel became an adult with sons, he parented the way he was taught.

How many of us grow us and say, ” I will never do what I experienced as a child,” or “I will never say the things that I heard from my parent as a child.” And yet in the stressful times we do the same things. I am guilty of that and want today to be mindful of those areas that need to be cut away so that my son and daughters don’t carry that baggage into their futures.

God I need strength and wisdom on this journey.