Taking An Interest

Taking an Interest

Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:7-8

When I was in my early teenage years, I was blessed to have a couple of people, other than my family members, take an interest in me. One was a junior high assistant principal, Mr. Rockquemore, and another was an older high school student, Allen Truman. Mr. Rockquemore would hang out with some of my friends and me in the cafeteria during lunch and take us to area high school basketball games. I was blessed to have Mr. Rockquemore in my life, especially when I had difficult decisions to make in high school.

Even more surprising, in some ways, was Allen’s role. I’d like to say that when I was eighteen, I was looking for thirteen-year-olds to befriend, but I was not. Allen, however, was a fairly constant figure in my life as I was beginning to mature. For whatever reason, he decided to be a role model for me. He not only coached me, but also played basketball and other sports with me as well as taking me to pro and college team games in the area. In his mind, he was just being a friend, but for me he was modeling what an older guy should be.

I was fortunate to have great parents who were very involved in my life, but I was just as blessed that people like Mr. Rockquemore and Allen took an interest in me, modeling for me positive aspects of adult life, aspects I wanted to emulate.

Many of us are reluctant to see ourselves as role models because we are very aware of our own mistakes and shortcomings. But those things don’t disqualify us. My role models certainly weren’t perfect, but they showed me how to live life in spite of imperfections. They made themselves available, even with their mistakes in plain view, and I watched them and learned. We can do the same for others.

Sometimes our society seems to have a vacuum of positive role models, but it doesn’t need to be that way. We should be intentional about modeling for others how to live authentic, meaningful lives. Our kids certainly need that—and some of us adults do too.

Uncommon Key > Role models come in all shapes and sizes—including yours. Don’t wait until you think you’ve got it all together. Step in and be a good one.