What's Your Wake?

I recently started Dr. Henry Cloud's book Integrity. So, after some reading this morning, I'm asking myself, "What's my wake?"

Cloud talks about the idea that you may be very skilled at what you do, and you may be great at networking and building alliances in your field, but at the end of the day, if you have no character, you'll shipwreck for sure.

So one of the things he talks about is our wake -- what we leave behind us. He puts it this way:

"Are a lot of people out there water-skiing on the wake, smiling, having a great time for our having 'moved through their lives'? Or are they out there bobbing for air, bleeding , and left wounded as shark bait? In other words, would they say that their experience with us has left them better off for our having 'moved through their lives,' or would they say that it has left them worse off? Did they consider it a blessing that they were associated with you, or a curses? What is the nature of the wake? Are they smiling or reeling?"

So here are my questions this morning about my own wake -- because, Cloud argues, our wake is the direct result of our character:

• What was my wake in seminary like?
• What about First Baptist? Were people glad for my having "moved through their lives," or did I leave people for shark bait?
• What about Northwoods -- when I interact with people -- are they happy for the experience, or do they walk away feeling like we got stuff done, but it wasn't a good experience?