The Modern Knight

principles | PURPOSE | perspective

Who writes this stuff?

“No one else can walk with God for me.
No one else can be a husband for me.
No one else can be a Dad for me.
Everything else that I do, someone else can do.”

Crawford Loritts, Jr

First, I am a Christian. Each day I try to understand Jesus better and follow him more closely. Second, I am a husband to Cathy, my bride since 1995. Third, I am Dad to four great kids (actually step-Dad to half that group, but my own step-father taught me that is an irrelevant distinction). We have a blended family that, once you know our full story, is truly a testimony in itself to the restorative power of Christ. Fourth, I am a cop.

Like many of us, my job does not always like to stay in fourth place, and that is part of the struggle, while  it keeps fighting to move up the list, I am committed to keeping my priorities. What I do is not who I am, and it is the first among my priorities that Crawford Loritts reminds me, “someone else can do.”

Aside from a paper route as a kid and working in a pizza joint during high school, being a cop is really all I have ever done. Some would tell you that means I have never had a real job. In 1988 I began a career as a police officer in a northern suburb of Chicago and am currently serving as Chief of Police. During this time I have had the privilege of attending Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command and the F.B.I. National Academy.

All this to let you know my perspective. I am committed to life long learning and developing as a leader. I believe that truth and wisdom are timeless and that lessons in leadership and ethics from antiquity, principles that are able to withstand the passage of time, are the keys to effective leadership today. I will speak as a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband, a Dad and a cop who is trying to understand the world before asking anyone to understand me. I will use this space to share what I believe and some things that are helping me me grow toward becoming the man and the leader that God has designed me to be (sometimes the connection will be loose and it may just look like a shiny object that grabbed my attention, for that I ask your indulgence). You are invited to come along.

Kevin Woodside


What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
– Ecclesiastes 1:9

And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
– 
Micah 6:8

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
– 
Matthew 5:9

Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
– Psalm 127:1b 

 

 

 

3 Comments

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  1. Great post. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said nearly the same thing (Christian, husband, dad, and then everything else).

  2. Brother,
    I have truly enjoyed reading your sight, I pray God brings many blessings to you and yours.

  3. I am inspired and thankful to find your website. Many of the things you talk about here are very much in line with what I have been working for since 2008. I am still young, but renewing chivalry in such a way that glorifies God is one of my heart’s greatest desires. I would be honored to enter into conversation with you about practical ways to go about doing so in the real world.

    Godspeed, and keep the faith,
    -Anthony

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