WALKIN' IN MY BOOTS

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    The memories catch me by surprise. My children are older now, in high school and college, but the wonderful moments we shared in their early childhood bubble to the surface, bringing me a sudden burst of reactivated joy! One of those memories brought a chuckle to me recently.

    Our daughter Megan had a real fascination with my footwear. “Shoose, daddy, shoose!” One of my favorite footwear memories involved her putting on my cowboy boots. But putting on those old boots wasn’t easy for her:

    First, her legs weren’t as long as the boots were tall. She had to drag the boots over to the couch and turn them so that she could slide off the couch and land in the boots.

    Second, her feet weren’t nearly big enough. They rattled around in those boots like a marble in a shoebox, making it incredibly hard for her to control the direction the boots pointed.

    Finally, when she dropped into the boots, the tops of them curling up over her diaper, they weighed much more than she could lift off the ground. She looked like she had on hip waders. Since she couldn’t bend her knees, she scooted along rather than walking. She would giggle, waddle, scoot, shuffle, laugh, and finally, loose her balance and fall - stiff and straight like a tree. She would look up at me, laugh, and say, “Aginnnnnnnnnn!” Then she would start the whole exhausting process over again.

    As I sat there chucking alone in the joy of memory, a powerful conviction swept over me. “I’m the one whose footprints will be followed! She will be walking in my “bootprints.” What kind of example am I leaving for her to follow? What kind of world will I leave her and her children? What will be my legacy to her? What lessons will she learn from the last half of my life?”

While we normally focus our attention on our example to our children when they are young, I’m convinced that the biggest imprint of our example to our children is how we live our post-children-at-home years. Granted, they won’t pay much attention if we lose their love and attention when they are young, but the fuel of our character will be powerfully displayed in the last half of our life to our children and grandchildren.

    I’m not sure when the “torch is passed” from one generation to the next. I know as a member of the “boomer” bunch, I’ve clung to the coattails of my parent’s generation. It’s easier that way — somebody else is responsible, in charge, foots the bill, sets the moral tone, and is the target for criticism. For us idealistic, head in the clouds, “boomers,” this is a startling, but essential realization.

    We’re no longer afforded the role of being cultural critics. We’re now the ones who must take charge of our time, our culture, and our churches. This doesn’t mean we volunteer to be bosses. It does mean we step forward and serve, give, lead, sacrifice, and take the criticism rather than give it.

    It’s no longer acceptable to stay a safe distance from the nitty-gritty of real life and lob our criticisms in from the periphery of power. Instead, we must lead the way for a new generation by our example. We must provide an opportunity for the next generations of believers to find their way to the future and their place in it. If positive change is to happen in our world, we will have to personally change first. Only then can we show the way. Otherwise we will merely be in the way.

    Even more convicting, our time to accomplish this change, set this direction, show the way, and bless the future generations is short. The clock is ticking and our opportunity will soon be over. Whether our children and grandchildren get to “stand on the shoulders of giants” will be determined how we live now, and what footprints — or in the case of some us “bootprints” — we leave for our children and grandchildren to follow.

http://www.heartlight.org/two_minute/2m_991013_boots.html