Point Man

Does any other man look at role of being the spiritual leader of your family and get overwhelmed thinking about it? I have had some great spiritual leaders in my life. My dad was a great spiritual leader for our household. His Bible was every color imaginable from his underlinings and study that he put into it. As kids, we knew that our dad loved the Lord, he loved our mom, and he loved us. Both of my grandfathers were also great spiritual leaders. When you were around Papaw (mom's dad), you wouldnt go more than a couple of hours without hearing Papaw give some sort of a sermon or encouragment based on the sriptures. For him, thats all there was. Pawpaw, (dad's dad) started a church out where he lived in which he served his whole life. And both dad and my granddads raised their family to know the Lord. What a rich heritage I have.

Yet I am afraid that in my life, I have not yet followed in their footsteps. Sure, I am a good person who loves the Lord. But I have not shown the leadership and love for the Lord that they lived day in and day out. I have not immersed myself in the scriptures on a daily basis. My prayer life has been at times, nonexistent. I can make time for a lot things, but God has not been on the top of my list. At work, I hear people say things that I dont think they should say and yet am silent. As I consider raising a family one day, I have a long way to come to be a true spiritual leader in my household. My wife needs me and my kids will need me. I have been reading a book called Point Man, by Steve Farrar. It is about how a man can lead his family. I would recommend this book to any man who wants to be a spiritual leader in their family. One of the quotes I liked from the book says, " We need some men who have a passion to be better fathers than they are accountants. We need some men who have a passion to be better dads than they are attorneys, salesmen, foremen, pastors, or doctors." It also has an interesting perspective of the Industrial Revolution causing the breakup of families because it took men away from their homes and families and out to their jobs. Anyway, I havent finished it but it is a good book.

I think as a nation, we have seen a decrease in the number of men who are spiritual leaders in their family. We have seen a decrease in knowledge of the scriptures. And I think the effects of this are showing. I hope that next year, I can write about this same subject and tell you that I have come closer to where I need to be. I hope to tell you that I have made it a habit to feed daily on God's word. That I have made talking with God a daily occurence. If there is anyone out there who wants to share in this goal with me, I would love to hear from you.

Also, Happy Birthday Michael!!

Quote of the week: (Talking about the day he was born) "I'm awesome! I came out and I was like 'Mom, how can I help you?'" - Michael Simpson