Last Saturday during the Charleston Southern football game I met Rob Taylor.  Rob is on the staff of Idlewild Baptist church in Tampa, Florida.  His pastor is Ken Whitten, a great leader and a good friend.  Rob played offensive line for Tampa Bay for eight years and he now has a son that plays for Charleston Southern.

This guy was a professional football player.  Football was a major part of his life and now he is watching his son at the college level.  Often you see people in this situation trying to live out their dreams in the life of their son or, in Rob’s case, have another career.  As I talked with Rob, I never got the idea that he was out of balance.  Certainly, he is interested and he wants to see his son play well, but there are things that are more important.

He shared with me about how he had prayed that God would lead his son to the right type of mentors and friends that would have a lasting spiritual impact on his life.  While he was watching the game, he never lost sight of the big picture for his son.  Besides watching Allison cheer, that was the most impressive thing I saw that day.

All of us want our children to be happy and successful.  We have all types of desires and dreams for them.  But we should not be distracted.  We must keep an eternal perspective.  Our dream should be that our kids would be used by the Lord to make an eternal difference in the lives of others.  We have to do more than prepare them to be a great athlete, make good grades, get a good job, or generally just enjoy life.  All of those things are fine, but God wants them to do and be more.  Our desire should be that they would have God’s best in their lives.  We must not get caught up in the moment.  If we want the best for them, we will help them work and plan towards finding His will for their lives.

Rob Taylor impressed me.  Not because he was a pro or because he is on a great church staff, but because I saw a dad that was keeping it all in perspective concerning his son.