A New Role

From last October until January, I worked as an Acting Case Worker as often as possible.  Having been Custody Staff for over 11 years, I was absolutely ready for a change in my life.  As Cusdody Staff, my role with the Inmates was 70-80% enforcing the rules and only 20-30% on interacting, role-modeling, mentoring, etc.  As a very introverted and empathic person, this role was a difficult one.

To be honest, I originally started working with the Nebraska Department of Corrections in January of 2006 and quickly realized how challenging the role would be for me.  In fact, it was a job that I only applied for because my unemployment insurance from leaving Active Duty was running out.  Being someone who is a natural mentor and shepard, this role made me feel like a big, square peg being forced into a small, round hole.  More than a little awkward.

Now, don't misunderstand...  I was very good at my job.  By nature, I have always been a thorough and fair person.  The Inmates soon learned that they could always know what to expect from me.  Though many Inmates hated me for enforcing the rules, they respected me for being consistent and treating everyone equally.  Many coworkers and supervisors respected me for this, too.

Having been a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) for years, I always strove to utilize on-the-spot corrections whenever possible, be it staff or Inmates.  Some highly respected me for this, others didn't.   But, they typically did not try to force me to do differently.

Although I was very good at my job, it did not give me much personal satisfaction.  As an INFJ, such a role was extremely draining physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Because of my growing dissatisfaction with work, I would often become bitter with God for the job He put me in.  Sometimes I was able to "grow where you are planted," but that was more the exception than the rule.

Although I am still not thrilled with where I am at, I am more accepting of my role as Unit Case Worker.  It has a much higher focus on problem solving, mentoring, etc., that I have a more positive view of my work and role.  Being that I work in a prison, I will always have a strong focus on security.  However, it is now closer to 20-40% of my work, not the main focus.

What is interesting is that many of the Inmates have quickly adjusted to this new role of mine.  In fact, some of the Inmates who were respectful in the past would not talk with me much at all.  Now, however, many are more willing to talk and receive my feedback.  I am still quick to correct unprofessional/inappropriate comments.  For example, one Inmate would always say, "Hi, buddy!"  After correcting home several times by saying, "I am not your buddy," I finally took him to the side and explained why his comment was inappropriate.  The 'light went on' and he has talked with me correctly ever since.  And this was over 2 weeks ago, and this person is a friendly person by nature.

Although working in Corrections is hard for me, being a Unit Case Worker seems to be a better fit.  I am not excited about work, though when I was acting Religious Coordinator,  I was.  But, that is a different story for another time.

In Chist,

RC

Some Memories

I have been reflecting on quite a few things these last few weeks.  Quite a few I have shared with my family, especially with my kids.  One of the big things that I have shared with them are the cartoons that I grew up with.  Unfortunately, though, some of them are harder to find than others.

There are several cartoons that I have shared with my kids that I have been able to find.  One of them being ‘Garfield and Friends.’  It was a show that I enjoyed as in my teens and early adulthood.  In fact, I still enjoy watching Garfield cartoons (including modern ones), and rereading some of the older cartoon strips.

Another show that I have shared with my kids, but they have not taken too much of an interest in, is in Magnum PI.  I have at least 4 seasons on DVD and still enjoy many of the episodes.  Just like with the current series that my family enjoys watching, CSI, Magnum PI lasted for many seasons because of their rich combination of actors that complimented each other extremely well, and some really good writers.

There are several shows that I have not been able to find on YouTube, though.  The version of Superfriends that I grew up with is one.  Not the one with ‘Wonderdog,’ but the one with the ‘Wonder Twins’ who could ‘activate’ their superpowers via verbal command while physically contacting each other.  (This was usually done via touching their index fingers, though other ways were done, too.)  It was a show that I grew up with in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  Another one during this time was ‘Thundarr, the Barbarian.’  With this particular show, I can find the opening credits and several commentaries on the different episodes, but not the episodes themselves.  Though ‘Thundarr’ was not my favorite cartoon growing up, it was one that I did enjoy a lot.

Some other memories that I have shared with my family and on this blog are my memories of traveling, especially in Europe.  Though I have traveled to many places throughout the United States and have very treasured memories from those travels, I more often talk about my travels to Europe.  Why?  Good question…

There are two reasons that I can come up with off the top of my head that I will share hear.  One of them is because of who much my experiences in Europe have impacted my life.  Let me start off with sharing one of my more humorous moments!

My parents had already visited Europe, primarily in Germany, because my Dad loves genealogy and his family comes from Germany.  While I was about 7 years old, and while we were living in Kansas, my parents started taking German at a night class.  My Mom eventually stopped going, but my Dad continued to attend.  While I had not interested in learning the language per se, I did enjoy learning some words and phrases over the years.  Basic questions, how to count, etc.

Fast forward to age 14, and I finally was able to visit Europe with my parents.  Needless to say, I was extremely excited!  My Dad had suggested to me that I sleep on the plan instead of staying up and watching the movies and eating the meals.  Being the typical teenager, I elected to stay up.  Needless to say, the consequence of that decision was being extremely tired upon our arrived in Germany.  So, I slept for a while in the car.

When we stopped later that afternoon at the hotel that we were going be staying, we decided to have lunch.  There were at least 6 or seven of us at the time (several friends and classmates of my dad traveled together), so we had one menu for every two people.  A friend of the family, Sandy, initially received a menu.  Being the hungry teen that I was, I snatched the menu from her had so that I could order something to eat.  I looked at it, but then angrily slapped the menu onto the table and said, “I can’t read this!”  It was, of course, in German!  Talking about culture shock! 

But, I overcame this experience within a day or two and was able to greatly enjoy my time there.  In fact, it was because of these experiences, falling in love with the food, the culture, the food, the landscape, the food, the history, the food, the castles…  Did I mention, ‘the food?’  Because of all that, I was inspired to learn the language with the intent of learning it so that I could work in Germany or travel there frequently for my work.  In fact, I went so far as to majoring in German (language, culture, history, etc.) while at Centre College.

We all memories for our experiences.  Some of them entertaining, some of them are awe inspiring, others are sad and/or painful.  But, these memories help mold us into the person that we are today.  How often do we share these memories and experiences with others to help them learn and grow?  I would encourage you to think about that.

RC

Lost in Translation

Have you ever had an experience where you tried to tell a story and someone, or maybe your whole audience, couldn’t understand why something was funny or embarrassing?  Or has someone told you a story about their childhood or travel experience that left them in stiches but left you just ‘scratching your head’ because it didn’t make much sense to you?  I’m sure that all of us have had such experiences from time-to-time.  For those of you who have traveled a lot within your own country, or especially to other countries, this is probably a familiar experience.  I know that it is to me.

This morning I had an awesome opportunity with helping to lead worship in my church.  Every year at about this time in the summer, we have Germanfest.  Because many of the people who settled here in this part of Syracuse are of German heritage, we have this festival to celebrate it.  We also have a joint worship service, too.  And it was during this joint service that I helped out.

What did I do?  I read responsive reading and the Lord’s Prayer, in German.  Of course, we had the English translation in the bulletin and on the PowerPoint.  It made for some entertaining experiences.  Instead of just jumping into the responsive reading with the German, I think I should have giving some instructions first.  It took a few moments for people to catch on, but they did. 

What was really entertaining was leading the Lord’s Prayer.  I actually gave instructions this time, that I was going to read it in German and for those in the congregation will recite it in English.  So, I read the German while they said it in English.  Well, for those who have not spoken something in a foreign language in front of people, especially while they were talking, it’s not very easy.  It is probably also the reason why I am not a professional interpreter.  That is, translating something from one language to another while people are talking. 

It got me thinking about my many experiences with languages over the years.  For those who don’t know me, I have always been fascinated by other languages and cultures.  Whether the languages and cultures are made up like the Klingons in Star Trek or the Hutts in Star Wars, I find them fascinating.  Actual languages in our world, whether modern or ancient, fascinate me as well.  Not just languages, but other cultures as well greatly interest me.

For those who do not know, I have been deployed to Iraq three different times and Qatar once.  I have also spent a significant amount of time in Europe, primarily in Germany, Holland, and the Alsace/Lorraine Valley (a region on the French/German Boarder), in the city of Strasbourg.  With each of the different experiences in each of those areas, I learned many new things about other cultures and peoples.  In fact, my favorite job that I have ever had was working in the International Zone Universal Placarding (IZUP) Office, back in 2010, creating security placards for vehicles.  These placards were needed to access the International Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, and certain areas within the IZ. 

In order to do my job, I had to interact with many different people from many different countries.  Because of my previous experiences with other cultures while in high school, collage, and in seminary, I had a lot of knowledge to draw upon in order to interact with the many different people.  For example, when the security group from one of the Asian embassies came in to have their placards renewed, I was the next available person to work with them.  Because of Asian friends that I had in the past, I knew the first thing I needed to do in order to show them respect was to bow, so I did.  This sign of respect made such an impact with this group that, when they came back on a couple of other occasions, they would always wait at the door until I was available.

Whether it is working with German, the rudimentary Spanish or Arabic that I have picked up over the years, or the biblical Greek and biblical Hebrew that I studied in seminary, I have long understood that translating things from one language to another can be challenging at times.  There are times where word or phrases translate easily.  Other times, one has to creatively interpret one idea to another.  Whether we are talking about idiomatic phrases, like ‘making a mountain out of a molehill,’ or translating prose or poetry, it can sometimes be very difficult.

Just as understanding another language can be difficult, understanding a different culture can be just as hard.  One example that I am very familiar with is the differences between American hygiene and typical Middle Eastern or African hygiene.  In most places in the Middle East and in Africa, people bathe regularly, but they do not ‘perfume’ themselves with deodorant, antiperspirant, etc.; whereas, we Americans pride ourselves on how good we smell.

It has been my experience that this ‘pride’ can be very harmful for good interpersonal and international relations.  For example, I had two friends from Africa while at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.  Because of my prior experiences, I was annoyed by their lack of deodorant, but ‘not offended.’  This was not the case with all of my fellow students.  Many of them, believe it or not, would talk disrespectfully about them when they were not around.  This was only because they ‘smell like us.’  On several occasions, I tried to help my fellow students that, although they bathed regularly, they smelled differently only because they didn’t wear deodorant.  That wasn’t a part of their culture.  Sadly, many of my fellow students didn’t care about ‘cultural differences,’ just that ‘they stink!’ 

One evening, I was in the basement of the dorm cooking my supper.  At least one other fellow student was with me at this time.  After a few minutes, while my back was to the door to the kitchen, I noticed a familiar scent and said, “Good evening ‘Paul,’ here to make supper?”  The other student, from Africa, stopped dead in his tracks next to me and said, “Ray, how did you know it was me?”  I just responded, “Lucky guess?”  In reality, over time, I realized that each of the two men had individual scents.  These different scents were very distinct.  Upon realizing this, I was soon able to recognize when either one of them came into a room.  Well, for me it was very entertaining…

Whenever I preach or do a Bible Study, I make it a point to take time understanding what the particular passage meant in the original language and culture.  Only after grasping a good understanding of how the original audience would have received and understood it do I try to interpret it for modern listeners and/or readers.  Being a person who loves learning and seeks to understand where others come from, this is natural for me.  However, I have realized many years ago that many others do not share this passion.  Therefore I make it a point to help others to understand this.

The point that I am trying to make?  Each of us have our own cultural and regional upbringings that have helped define each of us as we are as a unique person.  Our own life experiences make us unique and different.  And the culture and region that we grow up in help us to further interpret those experiences.  Because different ethnic groups, regions within a country, or even the people of other countries, do things differently, sharing experiences can sometimes be difficult.  Not only because of language barriers, but also because of cultural, ethnical, and/or religious differences.  We all have our set beliefs and biases.  We all have them.  However, to better understand others, we often have to try to understand how others believe, think, and behave.  In doing so, we show them respect for who they are.  Though this can often be challenging, maybe even extremely difficult, we should strive to do so.  Are you up to the challenge?

RC

Foreign Memories

This morning has been spent relaxing at home. After wrestling with knee and lower back pain all week, it is a welcomed break. Got some extra rest, and then started going through some magazines that have been piling up. Since I work 12 hour shifts for fouy days straight at a prison, have a wife and two young kids, and teach a Bible Study, I ofen do not have time to just sit and read for fun. This morning is one of those exceptions.

The first magazine that I picked up was from my Alma Mater, Centre College, in Danville, Kentucky. The focus of this fall edition was on the Centre-in-Strasbourg experience. To my surprise, it started 25 years ago, in the fall of 1991. I knew that it was a fairly new program when I took part in it, but had forgotten how young it was.

I had my 'Centre-in-Strasbourg' experience during thw fall of 1993. I was a sophomore at Centre and a German major. Because Strasburg is near the French-German boarder and Kehl, Germany, is about 20 minutes by train, studying there made perfect sense. I do have a lot of mixed feelings about my experiences there. But, it was a good experience overall.

I have always loved traveling. My parents and I visited several distant cousins in Germany and Holland when I was 14. This was not their first trip, just mine. That experience as a teenager really solidified my love for traveling and experiencong other cultures.

While with the Army, I have deployed to Iraq three times and to Qatar once. That is on top of two vacations in Germany (once with my parents and once on my own) and my Strasbourg experience. Though each of those experiences had some difficult times, they were overwhelmingly good.

Because of all of these experiences and a strong desire to learn about other cultures, I have found it easier to interact with those who have a different cultural and ethnic background. This has helped me in many different ways.

It definitely has helped me in better understanding life in general. It has also given me better insight into other people's experiences and a deeper appreciation for the historical context of Scripture. As I read Scripture, I try very hard to understand what the historical context was when it was written, the important linguistical aspects of the original language, as well as the cultures of Ancient Israel, Ancient Roam, etc. All of these things give a much fuller picture of what the original author of the passage was trying to tell the original audience. This, in turn, helps us to better understand the applications for us today.

When we watch the news or meet someone from another country, trying to understand at least some of their culture, history, and how they view things (their ethnical, cultural and religious values) can aid us in seeing a more whole person or event. This understanding does not mean you necessarily agree with them, or even like how they act. But, it means you are taking the time to understand who they are and how they see the world around them.

When we take the time to better understand how others perceive their world, this can help you to better understand your own experiences and how they have shaped you. I have found this to be true on many occasions. In studying German and learning the basics of French, Spanish, biblical Hebrew and Greek, and some Arabic, I have a great appreciation and respect for those who try to learn English. And, I have slowly gleaned the benefits of studying a foreign language, especially with getting a better understanding of my own mother language and how language can influence thought.

In life, we experience many different things. How I experience something may not be how someone else experiences it. If I at least try to understand how others have experienced things, I may earn the respect of them to try to understand my perspective.

During this Advent Season, let us seek to learn and grow. Part of this will include being stretched by 'foreign experiences' be it through travel to another place for the first time, or meeting someone different than ourselves. Are we going to open oursleves up for them?

Asking The Right Questions

This morning after church, we had a congregational meeting to discuss some important future plans. Two years ago last January, our church burned down. There was, praise God, no loss of life. Just the loss of the church. Almost from the start, some people were already talking about how soon we could start rebuilding.

At this time, some plans have been drawn up and a lot of money has been set aside for building the new church. It isnot fully funded yet. But we have some moeny set aside already. We have a good start; but, I am concerned that our focus is not where it should be. My greatest concern is that there is too much of a focus on the physical building, a physical church, but not much thought on being the church to our community.

What do I mean by "being the church?" Much, actually. Being a Christian is more than just making verbal confessions, carrying a Bible, with you all of the time, more than just memorizing Scripture, and attending worship worship at a church. It is much more than that. It is, first and foremost, a personal relationship with God throughthe life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus. But, it doesn't end there. Not by a long shot.

Being a Christian means being a Follower of Christ. It means living a life of obedience to not just how God wants us to live morally, but also with how He wants us to serve Him and others. I think that my current life is an excellent example.

As many of you might already know, I work at a State prison here in Nebraska as Custody Staff. It is not a job that I actively sought out. In fact, when I have been job hunting, I have sought out a ministry position. Working in a church or a Christian organization is my heart's desire. I attended seminary ad got a Master's of Divinity (2000 at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary) because that is where I felt God was calling me. But yet, I am working someplace totally different.

Not just that, but personality wise I am in a very challenging place. As an INFJ, I excell in theological study, teaching, and ministering to people. But yet, God is choosing to use me in a place very much outside of what come to me naturally. The last few weeks have been even more vividly so. Over the last year, as I have learned more about the personality that God has given me, I have begun to better understand why I have always been sensitive to my emotional surroundings. Keeping that in mind, it might come to a shock to you that God has been keeping meposted in visiting. My job in visiting, as Custody Staff, is to enforce rules with Inmates and the visitors.  On top of all that, during the visiting periods are a huge, volital mix of emotions. Just a few of them are anger over bad d3cisions, grief over damaged and destroyed relationships, grief over shattered dreams, anger over not being in contol of one's life, etc. The more people who are together, the greater the intensity of these feelings. Yesterday, I had three big groups to deal with, with one being an almost to compacity of the large room. By the end of the day, I felt like I was a 110 volt motor that had been plugged into a 220 volt outlet. Being "very exhausted"was a gross understatement. One might logically ask, why would a loving God put someone like me in an environment that was so draining?! I wrestle with that a lot.

God has given me a few glimpses here and there. Over the 7+ years that I havemworked at this particular prison, God hasnused me to greatimpact many lives there. Both staff and inmates. It doesn't always appear like I do. But, I doget glimpses at times. For example, as I was getting ready do do my searches on a group of Inmates before their visiting session, they were already grumbling about how long it would take. Then one Inmate said, "Hey, I know Underwood... He's cool..." That is all he said. Might not seem like much, but I felt a large amount of the building anger and frustration drop. They all chose to cooperate and, when another staff member arrived to help, things ran very smoothly.

Why did I share this story? Over the last 7+ years, I have had to live in utter dependence to God for strength and with guidance for doing my job. A lot that I do as Custody Staff does not come naturally as an INFJ. It has been a huge struggle on many ocassions. But, from time-to-time, God gives me glimpses of how He has touched lives through me. But, tnis is only because I prayerfylly choose to be God's instrument.

For us as a church, I see us at a crossroads. Will we focus on our physical needs of having our own church building now,; or, will we prayerfully seek to learn how to be The Church to our community? One is a road of easy decisions. One is a road of very difficult introspection and decisions. And, the worst th8ng of all, living uncomforably.

I do not know why God has me where I am at. Working at the prison has been a growing experience, but also a painful one. It is definitely not what I want and would have chose on my own. But, my desire to be obedient to God has beenthe reason why I have stayed so far. And, I believe that we, as a local church, is facing a similar kind of decision. We greatly need God's help in making the right decisions for doing His will. It is a great strugglento be obedient as an individual. The more people who gather to seek His Will, the more conflict and confusion can arise. Especially if each is seeking what makes them, as an individual, feel safe. But, since when has God called us to do things that make us feel safe? I think that Abraham, Moses, Dietrich Bohnhoffer, Frederich Douglas, Maartin Luther, Martin Luther King, Jr., etc., would argue that our comfort is not God's greatest concern.it is our obedience. Let us prayerfully contemplate that.

Being an Inspiration

A while back, I wrote a blog entry about how God uses us to touch the lives of others (Touching Lives). Although I felt that I was done with that particular blog entry, I felt like God wanted me to do more. After some reflection and prayer, now I will develop that concept a little bit more. Before going further, please take a moment to read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 and Matthew 28:18-20. There are many other passages that are applicable, but these are the two that I will use.

Has anyone come up to you and said that you are their hero? Or, that you have been an inspiration to them in some part of their life? That has happened to me on quite a few occasions. And, some of them have caught me by complete surprise.

While growing up, I was often reminded by my Dad, a Presbyterian Pastor, that the younger kids are watching me. Not just that, but that I will be a role-model to them with how to act and talk. Because of this, I need to be ‘more mindful’ of what I did and how I said things. I don’t think I really took this to heart until I was a senior in high school in Kentucky.

During my senior year, a group of seniors went around and took pictures and videos of other seniors. These pictures and videos would be put together for the seniors as part of a graduation gift from the school. Of course, there were specific rules that we had to abide by. What was neat was that they asked the students different questions in order to make it more personal. A few weeks before graduation, we got to watch the video. I will never forget it! One of the guys was asked on the video, “So tell us… Who is your hero.” His immediate response was that I was his hero! I just remember sitting there stunned, that someone would think of me as their inspiration. Honestly, I can't remember why I was his hero. Since the interview was only a few minutes long, I doubt he probably elaborated.

Over the years, I have been blessed on many other occasions where I have inspired others. For me, hearing how I have been a blessing to others is God’s way of encouraging me. He also reminds me of how He often uses me without me perceiving it. Even in small things, God has shown me how that He has touched others through what I say and do.

Another example… For those that don't know me, I am not a fast runner. For most of my military career, I have struggled with passing my 2 miles run within the allowed time. While I was Active Duty at FT Bragg, a friend of mine was the coach for the unit’s 10 Run Team. This was for the up-coming All American Week (think intramural sports being played by a whole base). He invited me to be on his team. Most of the other guys in my company questioned his logic in doing so. Since we had at least 8 runners and only the first 5 who finished would be counted, I was there more for the benefit of training with them. And, my friend inspired me to do my best by training with me. I know that it was often hard for him to run at my slower pace. But, he was that serious about me being on the team and personally helped me to improve.

As I trained, I shared with friends and family that I was participating on the 10 Mile Run Team. This was something I did on a regular basis, sharing important things in my life with those who are important to me. A few months later, while I was on vacation, I visited a good friend of mine from seminary and his family. At the time, he was pastoring a church in Kansas. While I was hanging out with him and ‘shooting the breeze,’ he told me that I had inspired him to start running and to get back into shape. At that point, he had lost several pounds, was dealing with stress better, and many other things. He also shared that, because I was several years older and took up the challenge to push myself in something I struggled to do well, what excuse did he have?

It is the same thing with my family. As a father of two kids, I often see them imitating the things that I do. At times that makes me proud, because they are mimicking the good things that I do. Other times, watching what they do makes me cringe. Through their actions and words, I realize how many times they see me making mistakes. It’s an important reminder to me, no matter what they are doing, to make sure that I am being the best role-model for them. Quite honestly, how my kids act is a daily reminder that they are closely watching how my wife and I deal with life.

Lets think about this a bit. How many people do you interact with on a daily basis? If you go to school, you have your classmates and teachers or professors. If you work, you have co-workers and supervisors. There are also various friends and family members that each of us interacts with regularly. Lets face it… We come into contact with many different people while we are out shopping, commuting to and from work or school, etc. Though we may not always be an inspiration to someone that we briefly interact with, that is not always the case.

I could be out with my family at a restaurant and, because someone is having a bad day, they decide to direct their anger towards me. In this case, lets say that I was able to use my ministerial skills to deescalate the situation. As we talked, I showed him that I cared by listening to what he was saying and that I acknowledged how it made him feel. In response, instead of taking his anger out on me or someone else, he is able to get a better perspective on things.

However, unknown to me there is a person who grew up without good parenting or role-models. All he or she knew growing up is how to react to things, especially with anger. Now the person sees how I used my verbal skills to help someone who was very upset to take a step back and gain a better perspective. This could be the inspiration that he or she needs to seek help in making positive changes in his or her life.

We all need to remember that others are watching what we say and do. It is so very easy to walk around, living life our own way, and not think about how we are impacting others. But yet, we always are influencing others with how we talk, how we act, our mannerism, etc. As followers of Christ, we are all His ambassadors to this world. (2 Corinthians 5:20) It is not something we can choose to do or not to do. If we claim to be a follower of Christ, we are, in fact, His ambassador.

Paul writes in his second Epistle to the churches in Corinth concerning many things. In this particular chapter, he talks specifically about being reconciled to Christ (born again as some define it). That is, trusting Christ as one’s Lord and Savior. In doing so, we become an adopted member of God’s family through Christ’s death and resurrection. But, being a member of the Body of Christ doesn’t just end with our adoption. As a follower of Christ, we now represent Him to those around us. Paul exhorts us, therefore, to be positive role-models or ambassadors for Christ to those around us. Not that we will get it right all the time. But, by God’s grace, we can learn and grow. And, as we learn and grow, we can more positively impact those around us.

We impact the lives of those around us, whether we know it or not. In fact, we can be a source of inspiration to others. There are many competing voices for peoples’ loyalty and devotion. On a daily basis, children are enticed to join gangs so that they can have a ‘family.’ On a daily basis terrorist groups try to persuade those who are angry about life to join their cause. On a daily basis, there are people who have corrupt morals that seek to encourage others to follow their examples. Let us seek God’s help to also be a voice to others. Let us seek God’s help in being positive influence in people’s lives. Not just that, let us ask God to change us in such was as we inspire others to follow Him. And not just follow Him, but seek to be obedient to Him in thought, word and deed. If prayerfully do that on a day-to-day basis, imagine the kind of impact God could have on the lives of those around us!