Leaders Are Readers
One of the many joys of being a mother of grown children is the well of memories that we carry in our hearts. This morning my 4-year old granddaughter saw an American flag and said to her mother, “Mom, that is an American flag, it is also called Old Glory.” What a brilliant child (if I do say so myself). She reminds so much of her dad when he was a child. Of course that is when the “well of memories” began to flood my mind. I remember a time when he was 3 years old; he wanted a cookie, but I said “no.” A few moments later I was accosted by a Lego-gun toting villain demanding a cookie! For all of you that are wondering – he still did not get the cookie; I was amazed that he had devised the plan, made the gun, and then attempted to force me to give him what he wanted, but I did not want him to think he could get his way with a gun.
I remember spending time working with my children before they went to school and of course helping them with their homework through the years. I recall one time in particular when one of my sons had to write his first book report. What a struggle! I had to wait until the other kids were in bed so that I could really work with him. I remember going through each process of the report, and every argument he used to say that the book was not “report” worthy. My son believed the whole book could be summed up in one sentence. Of course that was not the case. Now this same son not only sets goals for how many books he will read in a year – he has actually had a book published!
Reading is so important. The saying goes, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” All of us are leaders in some capacity. It may be that you are a leader or supervisor at work. Perhaps you are leading your children to follow their dad, or maybe you lead in an area of responsibility in your home (like the cleaning, laundry, food preparation, your family’s diet, or even finances). In some way we all lead and one day your children will have an area they will be called upon to lead as well.
It is very important that you teach your children the importance of seeking instruction, guidance, or counsel so that when they are called upon to lead one day, they will know what to do and how to do it! You can allow your children to fumble to figure things out on their own and then come back for instruction, or you can teach them how much easier and better things work out when you read the instructions first.
You can teach your children this very valuable lesson by doing the following:
Read to them when they are young—teach them to love books (it may just be your attention they love—but read to them).
Let them see that you are following what you read from God’s Word.
Be honest when you can’t answer a question, then show them you can find the answer by looking in a dictionary for spelling or definition - a cook book for a recipe, an encyclopedia for information on a specific subject, or as they grow older how to use the internet to find information.
Most importantly teach them that the best and basic instruction they will need for their lives is found in the Bible.
Have a wonderful day! (and thanks for reading)
I remember spending time working with my children before they went to school and of course helping them with their homework through the years. I recall one time in particular when one of my sons had to write his first book report. What a struggle! I had to wait until the other kids were in bed so that I could really work with him. I remember going through each process of the report, and every argument he used to say that the book was not “report” worthy. My son believed the whole book could be summed up in one sentence. Of course that was not the case. Now this same son not only sets goals for how many books he will read in a year – he has actually had a book published!
Reading is so important. The saying goes, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” All of us are leaders in some capacity. It may be that you are a leader or supervisor at work. Perhaps you are leading your children to follow their dad, or maybe you lead in an area of responsibility in your home (like the cleaning, laundry, food preparation, your family’s diet, or even finances). In some way we all lead and one day your children will have an area they will be called upon to lead as well.
It is very important that you teach your children the importance of seeking instruction, guidance, or counsel so that when they are called upon to lead one day, they will know what to do and how to do it! You can allow your children to fumble to figure things out on their own and then come back for instruction, or you can teach them how much easier and better things work out when you read the instructions first.
You can teach your children this very valuable lesson by doing the following:
Read to them when they are young—teach them to love books (it may just be your attention they love—but read to them).
Let them see that you are following what you read from God’s Word.
Be honest when you can’t answer a question, then show them you can find the answer by looking in a dictionary for spelling or definition - a cook book for a recipe, an encyclopedia for information on a specific subject, or as they grow older how to use the internet to find information.
Most importantly teach them that the best and basic instruction they will need for their lives is found in the Bible.
Have a wonderful day! (and thanks for reading)
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