Andy and Gina Templeton Just another weblog 
If you are a parent with children who are old enough to talk you can identify with what I am going to say next. Have you ever disciplined your child for an attitude, mannerism or way of speech and later realized that they probably picked that habit up from you?
This summer we visited my brother and his family in North Carolina and spent a day at the lake. We had a lot of time to play with our kids, watch our boys play with their smaller cousins and watch other people interact with their kids.
As I paddled around in the canoe with my boys I got to thinking that it was a pretty good illustration of the 18 years or so that we have with our children. We spend time with our kids. We live side-by-side and like it or not our kids are observing us all the time. From us, they learn how to react to certain situations, how to treat other people, how to view the Lord, how to deal with challenges and disappointments. 
At the end of those 18 years they will “get out of the canoe” and be on their own. They will put into practice all the things they have learned from us during our time together and will begin making their own disciples.
It was a good reminder that though we are commanded to go into all the world and make disciples, our first disciples are generally our own children. How are your disciples turning out? Are my boys disciples of Christ as a result of being my disciples? Are my daily interactions with my boys strengthening their relationship with Christ or causing them to be frustrated in their spiritual walk.
As you go through this day remember that you are creating disciples.
