Zig

I'm reading Zig Ziglar's autobiography. Why do exceptional people tend to come out of extraordinarily difficult childhoods? He lost his Dad and his little sister two days apart, when he was five years old. But his mother was such a strong, godly woman. A few things she taught him:

Beauty is as beauty does.

Your children more attention pay
to what you do than what you say.

What you are speaks so loudly that I can't hear what you're saying.

When a task is once begun
you leave it not until it's done.

Be a matter great or small
do it well or not at all.

Tell the truth and tell it ever, costeth what it will;
for he who hides the wrong he did, does the wrong thing still.


A mother can have a profound impact on the character of her children. How's that for stating the obvious? But I'm also struck by how much of a boys' life is outside of his mother's control. Many lessons he learned were learned from circumstances and people outside of the home, often lessons he learned the hard way. He spent the night at a hotel with a friend, and they liked the thick soft towels so much they decided to take them. They wrapped them around their bodies inside their shirts, since they had no luggage to hide them in. When he realized after the fact how much trouble he could've gotten himself into if he'd been caught, he determined to always earn the things he wanted rather than stealing them.



I've started praying that God will take my boys under his wing and teach them wisdom through the circumstances they're in and the people they meet as they grow up. He's always with them, and they're never outside his control.