For Father’s Day, my husband received a key chain inscribed with “Dad-a daughter’s first love and a son’s first hero.”

That reality became clear this week when my son came home with a second grade homework assignment to write about a hero of his.  He told me he was trying to decide between New York Giants quarterback, Eli Manning, or his Dad.

What is it that makes a us a hero to our kids?  Parents certainly can’t leap buildings in a single bound, we don’t have secret super powers of invisibility, strength or even flight, as helpful as they might seem.  Most of us, haven’t played in a Superbowl. Webster describes a hero as “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” Yikes! A description like that can leave even the best parent feeling unable to measure up. Read that and an enormous feeling of pressure to do more and be more kicks in.

As a parent, I seem to wear my anger, impatience and frustration more readily than any super hero cape. In reality, I feel I spend more days reflecting a super villain. Yet I still see it in their eyes, this look of admiration. A look that says, “I want to be like you,”  and I’m humbled.

Everything in me screams that it’s not me they should aspire to be like, but the One who’s love is great enough to forgive and transform even my mistakes and short-comings.  It’s a great motivator to be purposeful to empty myself daily and allow Him to fill me up. I pray they see beyond me to the One who truly is worthy of worship.