Years ago my three-year-old son, Jeremy, and I walked to our car. He _______ me with excitement. I found he was holding a _______ in his little hand. I hadn’t given it to him, so I asked, “Where did you get that?” He _______ to the store we’d just _______. But we hadn’t paid for it.

I had a lot of things to do that day, but taking _______ of this moment to teach character to my son just moved to the _______ of my to-do list. I sat him in the front seat next to me in the car without _______ it, so the two of us could talk. I _______ to him that we couldn’t just take things from stores without _______ them. When he realized he’d done wrong, tears ________ up in his eyes. I looked at my ________ boy and said, “Here’s what we have to do. We have to go back to the ________. I want you to tell the manager that you took it, and you’re sorry.” We walked back to the store, and I asked for the ________. “My son has something to tell you,” I told her. Jeremy ________ the toy and said, “I took this, and I’m sorry.” The manager ________ it beautifully, and a little boy learned an important ________.

My son is now 40, with children of his own, but he still clearly ________ that day. And, now, I’m so ________ that those character traits I tried to teach him took ________ in his heart and life. He’s now teaching them to my beloved ________.

We can impact our world by teaching our children character-by being examples of them.

   My kids and I were heading into the supermarket over the weekend. On the way, we spotted a man holding a piece of paper that said, “_______ my job. Family to Feed.”

At this store, a _______ like this is not normal. My 10-year-old noticed him and make a _________ on how bad it must be to have to stand _________ in the cold wind.

In the store, I asked each of my kids to _______ something they thought our “friend” there would _________. They got apples, a sandwich and a bottle of juice. Then my 17-year-old suggested giving him a _________. I thought about it. We were _______ on cash ourselves, but… well, sometimes _______ from our need instead of our abundance is ________ what we need to do! All the kids __________ something they could do away with for the week.

When we handed him the bag of ________, he lit up and thanked us with ________ eyes. When I handed him the gift card, saying he could use it for __________ his family might need, he burst into tears.

This has been a wonderful ________ for our family. For days the kids have been looking for others we can ________! Things would have played out so __________ if I had simply said, “No, we really don’t have __________ to give more.” Stepping out not only helped a brother in ________, it also gave my kids the __________ taste of helping others. It’ll go a long way with them.

   I now remember the day as if it were just yesterday. It was the early morning hours and I had _____ to my dad several hours before. We hung up the phone and I _____ my night time routine, getting my daughter ready for _____ and doing the same for myself. I went to sleep that night and the phone rang around 1:30 a.m. I saw that it was my brother _____ I thought he had probably been drunk so I hung _____ up. My brother gets drunk and calls me _____ Then the phone rang again and I answered. He asked me if I knew what was _____ because our cousin had called him and told him to call our aunt because she _____ to talk to him. She said there was no _____ at my parents’ house. At that point I started to ______ but I had to stay strong for my brother. I called the hospital and I asked if they had a ______ by the name of Ray Green. They said yes and nothing else. My mother called me back after a few minutes and told me that my father had ______.

I’m still so lost that sometimes I pick up the ______ to call my dad and then I remember he’s not there for me to make a phone call to. ______, I see something that would have made him ______ and I laugh twice for him too. My mother is so much ______ than I am. She is back at work and going on with her life and I’ve done the ______ but not like her. I know she ______ my father dearly but she is strong and keeps on so that everybody else can ______ her lead. So that is what I’m trying to do: stay strong and keep my ______ up.