Little Influence Early May Make Long-Term Impact

I'm guessing it was 25 years or so ago that I went to visit my college roommate, her husband, and her young son.  I really don't remember what age he was, but little.  I wanted to bring something to him, but I really knew nothing of little boys.  At the time, I lived in Eugene, Oregon, so I went to the University of Oregon bookstore, and I bought him a University of Oregon pennant.  End of story or so I thought.

Fast forward how ever many years it has been, and I learned two or three years ago that the little boy, now an accomplished man in his mid-20s, has been smitten with Oregon sports teams ever since.  While I was working at my computer this afternoon, I got a text from his mom.  The family has finally sojourned to the Mecca for Oregon Duck fans: Autzen stadium.  My friend sent a picture of her son in front of the stadium where they were attending a football game.

I slumped back into my chair and had a flash.  How could I have ever known that such a little thing as a souvenir pennant would grab a young man's attention for decades?  A humbling thought.

That really set me thinking.  I didn't even remember giving him the pennant until his mom and dad reminded me. (I do remember that the toddler and I had quite a love affair during that visit. How very sweet to recall.) I wonder what else I have given children in my life that I have forgotten about, which has impacted their lives.  I am not thinking about "stuff," like pennants or other gifts.  My concern is of acts of kindness or unkindness, thoughtfulness or sleight. 

We really never know when we do something for or to a child what long-term impact the act will have.  As part of my personal growth session this week, one of the things we did was to create a "conflict history."  Some of the things in our lives were not huge in the normal scheme of things, but because of timing or impact, they have colored how we faced the events of our lives since then.

I wonder about the two little miracles that are in my life right now. ("Anticipation," 8/8 and "Through the Eyes of a Three-Year-Old, 8/9)  How very mindful I will be in the future of what I do or say and how it may color their young lives.  I want them to remember our times together as planting seeds of love and excitement for when they are older, like happened today.  I don't ever want to end up on someone's "conflict history" 30 years from now.  The only way I can avoid that is by being very conscious and intentional about every moment we have together. 

Perhaps there is nothing that we do that more influences the world we leave behind than how we love and treat the children around us. That is how we make miracles happen.  That is how we change the world.