FJWL_02:378
         (Dad:) When you're tempted to be discouraged and get down and just kind of let it all hang out, you figure, "What the heck, why put forth such an effort? I'm not going to feel any better anyway, so why try harder?" When you feel like that, think about the JETTs. Think how much they look up to you and they want to see a sample in you. They want to see someone who they can follow, someone they can trust, someone who will show them the way--not someone who will tell them what's right and what's wrong, not someone who will preach sermons at them, but someone who's showing them by their own sample.
         I don't mean that you have to be perfect, for goodness sake. I was far from perfect myself. I had a lot of faults and a lot of failures. But the kids followed me because they saw the sample. They saw that despite my weaknesses I was going full steam ahead for the Lord. Even at the times that I didn't feel like it, I just kept pressing ahead, and it was a sample to the kids. There are times when they don't feel like pressing ahead either, and it's a real struggle for them and they feel all discouraged and down. So to see you keep fighting and staying positive during those times is just about the best sample you could ever be. That will speak very loudly to them when they have to go through the same things.
         When you get discouraged and just let it all hang out and don't stay on top of things, and you don't keep up the standard but let down your guard, it weakens their faith too. And when they get hit with hard times, it's harder for them to fight, because they haven't seen the sample. So think about them. The Lord wants to use you to be samples, to be leaders, to be shepherds. But the hardest part about being a shepherd is being a sample--through the good times and through the bad times. Especially at those times when you're really going through it, that's the time when your sample counts the most. It's easy to be good when everything's going great. But when people know that you're going through it, yet they see that you're still being a good sample, that's what speaks volumes, and that's what's really going to help the JETTs.



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