“You are the average of the five
people you spend the most time with.” Jim Rohn
Recently, my sister-in-law, my
wife, and I were taking a casual boat ride along the shores of a lake up north.
It was a beautiful evening! A bald eagle swooped down in front of the boat and
then flew up into a pine tree and perched there for a while as we took several
pictures. We continued on, enjoying the lush landscape bordering the lake.
Eventually, we came to an area of pine trees that had a few leaning out from
shore, away from the crowd; it reminded me of my life in high school.
Most of my time in high school
was spent with four other guys, and we would get into trouble…a lot of trouble.
It didn’t matter if all five us were together or if it was just one of us, if
something bad happened, we were all presumed guilty. That’s where I learned the
term “guilty by association”. I wasn’t too concerned when I was presumed guilty
for something one of the other guys did because we always looked out for one
another, and they would take the blame for me as well. The principle and vice
principle of our high school knew us very well. Needless to say, the road I was
on didn’t have a lot of promise to it.
During summer break one year, on
the 4th of July to be exact, a friend of mine introduced me to her
friend. Well, that friend of hers became my girlfriend and has been my wife now
for almost 25 years. Having a steady girlfriend immediately changed my
priorities; I wanted to be a better person. My buddies noticed it right away.
They gave me a hard time, of course, but they knew how important she was to me.
There is still distant contact with one of those guys, but I wouldn’t change
where I am today. Sometimes it only takes one person to make a dramatic
difference in your life and change the course of your path.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and
perfect will.
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