Rich Dixon is back with an invitation.

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A while back a friend told me a story.

With his permission, I’ll share three things he repeated to his kids nearly every day from the time they were old enough to understand. Each day at breakfast he would recite these principles:

• Be a leader.
• Walk with the King.
• Serve others.

I’m sure lots of conversation happened around each one, but the main point is that he tried hard to never miss a day without beginning with those statements.

As work got busier and schedules became hectic, family breakfast wasn’t always possible. Sometimes, as he headed out the door, he would shout, “Be a leader,” and wait for the kids to respond, wherever they were in the house, with the other two statements.

I worked with teenagers for 35 years. I’m sure there were years when his kids rolled their eyes, because that’s what teenagers do. But the principles were there, every single day.

I also know kids hear an inch deep – and observe a mile deep.

I’ll bet my friend and his wife worked hard to be examples – to demonstrate what it meant to be leaders, walk with the King, serve others. I imagine husband-wife conversations: how do we intentionally live out these principles?

Just imagine the impact of that kind of consistency, day after day, year after year, in a child’s life. Not just hearing the words, but consistently seeing the example.

I think this story exemplifies a quote from C. S. Lewis:

Put first things first and we get second things thrown in; put second things first and we lose both first and second things.

My friend, I believe, made an intentional choice to put first things first.

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I’ve told this remarkable story numerous times. Often, the response is, “I wish I would have known about this when my kids were small.”

I think that misses the point.

I see this as a challenge to you and me.

What would our neighborhood, our grandkids, our community, our world look like if each of us made the effort, each day, intentionally to be a leader, to walk with the King, to serve others?