This weekend I was teaching my middle daughter, Avery, how to ride her bike. I got a workout just holding her bike and running alongside her.

I noticed that when I would let go of her, she would always look around for me and then when she saw that I wasn’t holding on, she would crash. Most of the time, I would scoop her off her bike before she got hurt.

Sometimes I wasn’t that fast.

Eventually she got better. I finally told her that she didn’t need me anymore. I told her that she could ride on her own if she would just keep riding.

 It didn’t work. She kept crashing.  

Finally, I decided to give her a shove…and then I ran in front of her and told her to follow me.  

Surprisingly enough, she didn’t fall.

When she focused on me following her, she failed every time.

When she watched me lead her, she stayed upright. She had a goal to focus on…catching me.

Each one of us as fathers is responsible for training our kids.

Sometimes we can sit back and “tell” them what to do. 

At other times we have to get out in front and run.

Our kids need someone to focus on, someone to look to, someone to get their thinking off of where they are and get it on where they should be going.

Its our job to lead.

Get out in front and run.