An interesting conversation played out in our home this week… We were talking about the importance of drive in getting things done and getting things done well when I threw out this question.
“What do George Washington and Hitler have in common?”
They gave me mortifying looks.
“Drive, brilliance, leadership, etc.”
“What sets them apart?”
We explored that for a while. One boy pointed out that these were two VERY extreme examples.
While these are extreme examples and most of us live in the middle, I pointed out that you can be incredibly smart, you can have all the drive in the world to succeed and do things well, but if your internal compass is off you do it for all the wrong reasons. At best you are selfish and hurt feelings. At worst, you decimate or destroy the lives of millions.
As we wrap up this Chivalry Challenge by challenging our kids to pursue excellence, we need to keep perspective. Because here’s the thing about this last aspect of the code of chivalry: It works best as a book-end to the code of chivalry because it works best in tandem with the first element of the code – LOVE GOD.
Loving God with our heart, soul, mind and strength and in turn loving our neighbors provides us with the WHY for the rest of the code.
Doing everything with excellence provides the HOW!
Chivalry Challenge – Pursue Excellence
We’ve made it to the end of this Chivalry Challenge and we are ready to issue one final reminder, one final challenge. In whatever you do, play all out – for the glory of God and to help others. This chapter in Knights in Training opens by telling about the life of William Marshall and how he had the opportunity to choose the path of a hearth son. He could have chosen to stay home and mooch off his father and then brother. But he chose the challenge of forging his own path and his commitment to excellence set him apart. He was able to have a huge impact.
Laziness and doing the bare minimum is not a new problem. It is a temptation faced by people across time and space. But your boys have a chance to chart a different path.
So take some time to re-read chapter 15 and grab your free printables as you decide how you want to personalize this challenge to your boys. As we come up to this new year, this would be the perfect time to draw your older kids into setting some goals of their own and guiding them on how to achieve them.
Don’t give up on your kids. Don’t give up on yourself. Continue to challenge your boys. Pray without ceasing and step forward in faith.
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Books to Read that Inspire the Pursuit of Excellence
- In the Time of Knights (the Story of William Marshal) – this book is out of print, but if your library has a copy it is well worth reading. It tells of the life of Sir William Marshal and highlights his pursuit of excellence.
- A Day’s Work – This picture book by Eve Bunting is inspiring.
- A Single Shard – We loved reading this chapter book as a read-aloud. His pursuit of excellence and tenacity in the face of setback is inspiring.
- Boys in the Boat – We read the youth version this last year and were moved by his perseverance and pursuit of excellence that sent this team to the Olympics despite their troubled and impoverished backgrounds.
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