Your children are watching your every move…

About a week ago, I noticed my 9-year-old son, Sten walking around the house with one of his plastic airsoft guns tucked neatly into his back pocket.  As he passed by me I stopped him with a big smile on my face and asked, “Sten, what are you doing?”  He looked at me with a funny expression and replied, “What do you mean ‘what am I doing’?  It’s my gun.”

Besides the fact that I found this abrupt and seemingly random interaction between us to be funny and memorable, a profound truth dawned on me in that moment.  I realized that my son “gets it.”

You see, to me, and now to him, carrying a gun is not simply a hobby.  It’s not a mere choice or preference based on our natural-born rights affirmed to us in the U.S. Constitution.  It’s a way of life with real values and convictions upholding it.  At just 9-years of age, my son has adopted those values and made them his own.  He has put those values into action and is posturing his life to be a person that is prepared to defend himself, his loved ones, and his community from those who prey on the weak and innocent.

One of the best parts of this interaction was an opportunity to have Sten recite the four rules of gun safety.  He did so successfully, but I reminded him that it's still too early to carry his gun in public.

The take-away from this is a no-brainer:  Our kids are watching us.  They will pick up our habits and beliefs, both good and bad, and will carry them on long after we have passed on. 

If you’re anything like me, you understand how heavy of a responsibility this is.  What’s even more powerful is that this is not only a heavy responsibility; it is also a profound opportunity.  We have the potential to influence the next generation in powerful ways by simply making everyday choices that will help to shape them into the people we want them to be.

My hope is that this serves simply as a reminder that you have the power to affect our nation’s future.  Our sons and daughters are tomorrow’s business leaders, athletes, voters and politicians.   Are you doing all you can to fight for their future?