Of Carrots and Christmas

It was just a routine household task--peeling and chopping carrots for our dinner. Jake was watching. "Why do you chop the ends off?" he asked.

"Because they don't taste good."

"Have you ever tasted them?"

"No."

"Then why do you do that?"

"Because when I was little Grandpa Fred taught me to chop the ends off carrots when I peel them."

Whoa, I thought. I've been peeling and cutting carrots this way my whole life because it's what my dad taught me to do. Now I'm a parent. What things am I teaching or not teaching my children that will affect them for the rest of their lives? Boy am I in trouble. 

How often do I inadequately teach or fail to teach or inadvertently teach the wrong thing? The mind reels with the possibilities.

A few days later I was helping Jake get ready for bed. I picked up a copy of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town that he had borrowed from the library.

"I don't want a Christmas book about Santa," Jake said. "I want a Christmas book about Jesus. Christmas is really about Jesus and how He came to be our Savior."

Whoa. Did I teach him that?

How many times do I miss the mark in teaching my kids? More than I can count. But there are some things--really one thing--that is more important than anything else. If I can teach them to treasure Jesus Christ and His gospel, everything else is going to be OK.