Role models shape who we are. They guide us along our way by blazing the trail ahead of us with their thoughts and actions. Often, they don’t realize that they are role models or mentors. They merely keep walking, leaving others to watch them make themselves into something that the rest marvel at.

I have been blessed to have many role models in my life thus far. However, the two that stick out foremost in my mind are Jimmy Lee and John Henry. They are both cousins of mine. And they come from opposite sides of the family tree.

Jimmy Lee is my father’s brother’s son. He was a grown man by the time I was born. He worked at the phone company for many years before the big lay-off. He had such high intellect that the phone company paid him to go to college. He got his degree in computer programming and became a troubleshooter. He could fix anything on a computer. The company abolished his job. That did not stop him. He just went out of state and got a new job and career going. He and his wife Mary are very involved in their church and have fostered very high values to their children and all those that they meet. Mary has had to change careers many times too but they keep going in their faith, never giving up. They have a can do attitude and a positive outlook that makes them see the silver lining behind every cloud. They are back in North Carolina now having had to reinvent themselves again. I marvel at their fortitude and determination to go wherever God leads them never asking why. They are true disciples of Christ and are a tough act to follow.

John Henry is my mother’s nephew. He is a genius who never struggled in school and always got straight A’s. He can play many musical instruments including the violin, trumpet and piano. As a young college student, he traveled to Japan. I was a young child and marveled at his travels. He always brought something back from his destination. He made music even as a young man. I still have the tape he made me. He met his wife Pam in college. They married in the mid-eighties. They have two daughters, Emileigh and Aria, 12 and 10 respectively. They have a strong Christian faith and their daughters reflect that faith. John has had many careers, a missionary, a youth pastor and an associate pastor. However, like myself, music is his passion. He now owns his own recording studio in Missouri where he has a children’s music ministry. I’m still waiting for my audition.

So, you see, role models are around you. You just have to look for them. Don’t count on Hollywood to provide them for you. Not good ones, anyway. In a world where thin is in and money is power, not many of today’s young people have good role models to look up to. To find them, one must look around them and read between the lines. Then, you must look within. For it is certain that while you’re looking up to one person, someone else is looking up to you!