one degree

i was thinking - as i was watching my big girls the other day - about my job.
They're getting older, more responsible. They are becoming very able little people - & i like that.
The corrections that i'm trying to make in these days - are minor ones. A gentle nudge towards grace, forgiveness, kindness, humility. i try to remind them, if they seem to forget for an instant, to choose better. At least, that's my goal.
i'm thinking that these years will be full of tiny corrections - maybe only a degree or two.
These corrections seem so insignificant at the time. Sometimes i wonder if i should bother - since the difference seems so slight...
But then i remember the length of their journey.
The character i help to shape now - will serve them for the next 70, 80, 90 years...
Imagine walking along a straight line for decades - & realizing that a shift of one degree way back in your childhood - could have brought you to a place miles & miles apart from where you ended up?
& so i ask my Father to keep my heart soft & my eyes sharp. i ask Him to help me see the instances where i should take them gently by the shoulder & turn them - ever so slightly - so that they are better facing Home.