Teaching Skills, Serving the Community, Building Character
I received an email from a friend this week looking for a hand with helping a local Houston church in need of repairs to maintain insurance coverage. I extended the invitation to my family and to those at my company and we had 18 show up Saturday morning.
We invested 4 hours at Johnson Chapel in Northeast Houston and gained a memory for a lifetime. We created memories of service to the community, a memory of learning about construction and repairs, and a memory of working together. To be honest none of us were looking forward to getting up early Saturday morning for a service project. My two sons have little to no construction experience and were anxious about their lack of ability to contribute. My sons had the opportunity to work shoulder to shoulder with other men and learn to use
tools to pull nails, cut out rotten wood, replace wooden siding, how to use a nail gun, and how to caulk joints. Tearing out the rotten wood opened up the structure of the building and allowed them to get a first hand view of how to build a building.
Dads, we work hard during the week and find it so easy to pass up service opportunities when an extra hour of sleep is so valuable. Dads, it is our job to lead the charge to build character into our kids. Character to get up early in the morning when everything is crying out for more sleep. Character to say yes to invitations for service so that it is not just a one-time event, but building a pattern and priority of service. Character to work side by side by other men and learn new skills, and character to work hard and expect nothing in return.
The best way to build the right stuff into your kids is to get out there and do it with them. When we got home my younger son, Ben, told my wife it was not as bad as he was
expecting and actually enjoyed doing the work and felt valued because he could
fit in the tight spots the men could not get into. My other son Drew was tasked to take some photos and create a video. Check it out. Remember the words of Christ.
Luke 12:48 “…From everyone who has been given much, much will be required…”
