Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCCXCII

As I sat and listened to a poem that our pastor read to the congregation a couple weeks ago, my mind went back to an event that happened a few miles from my home when I was a kid. There was a man who had been working in the logging industry for many years, and as a result of his decades of experience, he had become what we would call an expert in his field. This man knew what he was doing, and he knew how to safely take some shortcuts that would have been too dangerous for the novice logger to attempt.  Naturally, as so often happens, when his son became an adult, he chose to follow in his dad's footsteps.  One day there was a tragic accident when a tree fell on this man's son, killing him instantly. The son had been taking one of those risky shortcuts that he had seen his father take so many times before. Our neighbors told us that the distraught father kept saying over and over, "I told him and told him how to do it right and not to do it like I do." The poem I mentioned had nothing to do with the logging industry, but if the man I told you about could have heard and heeded its words, it may have saved the life of his son.  Its basic message is that our words of advice and instruction carry weight only when they are matched by our actions, and that is especially true when it comes to our children. One of the worst sermons ever preached is "Do as I say, not as I do."  How can I tell my son not to smoke when he sees me smoking? Will he listen to my warnings about the dangers of alcohol when he sees me drinking?  Chances are, if I "send" my kids to church instead of "taking" them, when they're grown and on their own, they'll neglect church just like I do. As I look back over my childhood years, I have to say, "Thank you Lord for parents who 'practiced what they preached'." Although finances were tight for our family for practically all of my childhood, I couldn't have been more blessed. Dad worked hard all day, and then came home and worked hard in the garden. Mom didn't have an outside job, but she worked hard from sun up till sun down. They made us kids do chores such as shelling peas and butter beans, but they shelled them with us. They told us to get involved in every aspect of the church, and then they showed us how by doing the same thing. I'm proud of the adults that my kids have become, but I have to give credit where credit is due. It all goes back to the type of homes in which my wife and I grew up. Although they may have never used these exact words, both her parents and mine lived by this principle:  Words of instruction without example are meaningless, while words followed by example are among the most powerful forces on earth. Preston