Our Influence

I've been thinking, lately, about how much we influence the world around us. I've always thought that I have a small sphere of influence: a handful of blog readers, a Sunday School class, and the rest of the kids at church who come to play. It isn't much, but I'm pretty happy with it. Still. sometimes I'd like to go out and change the world!

Then one of the men at the church said something that got me thinking. He's one of the elders as well as the father of one of my Sunday School boys. He was telling me that his son sometimes comes out with deep stuff that he's learned from me, and that really, I'm influencing future generations. We were interrupted then, so the conversation ended on that note.

So now I'm thinking: in teaching my kids, I'm giving them the knowledge of God that they are going to pass down to their children. By having the girls over for sleepovers and the boys over to watch movies and play with Lego, I'm modeling hospitality for them, showing them a way of living that they might remember when they are adults. And they're watching me, talking with me, listening to me. (Side note: I know their parents, their other teachers, their friends, their pastors, etc. are all also part of this, and I'm not trying to take away from their influence; in fact, this would apply to them as well.)

It makes me feel my responsibility so much more. I'm not only teaching this generation, I'm setting things up for the next ones as well.