Living Out Our Witness

Often we don't think about our witness to others when we go out in public ... especially with our kids. If we were honest, I think most of us would say that the driving force in managing our children's behavior in public is primarily focused on reducing our own personal embarrassment. We simply don't want our kids behavior to make us look bad ... whether that behavior is truly sinful or not. And admittedly, I am this way most of the time. There is one place however, that I am a little more relaxed concerning this and that is the pool.

At the pool, I pretty much allow the kids to just be kids ... provided their are no safety issues to address. This is one reason why I'm so excited over their ability to be comfortable in the water, it means that I give them a little more freedom. I don't have to be in the pool with them. So apart from the safety concerns, which I talk with them about as new situations present themselves, they can be free to interact with other kids, other adults or myself as they desire. And I don't take the time to stop and think about what other people might think about me or my kids. Or at least I didn't until someone went out of their way to make a comment.

On Monday, I took the kids to the pool in the afternoon ... the same as we do most days when the weather is permitting - which is more often than not. There weren't many other folks at the pool. We pretty much had the water to ourselves while a few sunbathers soaked up a few rays. At this particular time, I was in the pool playing with my daughter. We were playing different race games chasing after her inflatable ring. After that she wanted me to help her walk on her "tip-toes" into increasingly deeper water. It was about this time, that one of the sun worshippers came into the pool and approached me.

She was an older woman (late 40s or early 50s I'm guessing) of either German or Swiss birth judging by her accent. But she walked over to us and politely asked if I was married. The question took me by surprise to say the least. There are a multitude of thoughts and questions that race through one's mind when someone of the opposite sex asks that question. Not sure of where the conversation was headed, I explained that indeed I was married and that my wife works most afternoons which is why she can't always come to the pool with us. Her reply was that she was curious about this because of the evident strong bond between my daughter and myself. She also remarked about my daughter's ability to speak very pointedly about various subjects, and she also said that my daughter should be featured in a magazine.

We thanked her for her kind words and then she left the pool, but her words stayed with me and gave me something to think about. While I am often worried about my embarrassment in how my kids behave, it occurs to me that what I should be more concerned about is how well does my public relationship to my children (and my wife for that matter) reflect the love of God to the world? One of the best gifts I can give my family is to demonstrate how to be a living witness to the Truth in everything we do. When we make His concerns our concerns, we are much less worried about our public image and much more focused on what we can do allow His image to shine through us.