from 30K feet

The Right Focus

I use the fitness room where we live during the week as I continue to rehab my torn achilles tendon. Every morning this kid is in there working out on the ancient equipment.

Now I have never been into the whole pumping iron thing but I have been in the gym enough to know this kid needs some help with the exercises he is doing. This morning as I ran on the elliptical machine, the only piece of equipment I am allowed to use, I began thinking about this kid as I watched him workout.

• This kid does not lack dedication. I only use the equipment a couple of times a week and he is always there at 5:50 am.

• He has the right resources. While the equipment is out dated, it still works. (plus he has some nice lifting gloves)

• He cares about progress because he is constantly checking out the development of his "guns"

• His goal is a little off. He obviously believes lifting the most plates instead of form is the key to success. 

Here is what I came away with.

You can have dedication, the right resources, and a focus on progress but if your process is messed up and you lose the attention to details, then you will struggle to get the results you are hoping for. It is true for pumping iron and it is true in our spiritual lives and ministry too.

Writing Curriculum for 2s/3s

As a team we began praying about the opportunity to write our own curriculum for our 2 and 3 year olds. We set the idea aside to see what God would do and he brought us Tiffany. She is a volunteer with a teaching background that has spent the last couple of years helping in this area by preparing material.

We began meeting every couple of weeks about two months ago. This morning we spent most of our time talking through the stories we would focus on and how they fit in God's One Big Story. Our conversation then turned to what happens from Sunday to Sunday.

We saw a great opportunity to develop material that parents could use to bridge the time between Sundays. We wrote down the following ideas about what that material might look like.

• Parent version of the lesson - so parents and kids are learning together
• Simple Bible verse
• Phrase that pays - Bible Truth
• Activities for families - simple, flexible and fit within average lifestyle
• link to other resources

I am excited about where God will take us through this process.

What are you praying for?

I don't listen to a lot of podcasts but one I try not to miss is Andy Stanley's Leadership Podcast. The April edition was titled The Principle of the Path. It communicates the very simple idea that the path we are on will determine our destination, not our hopes, dreams, intentions or even our prayers.

In other words, what we do everyday...day in and day out...will determine our destination.

Sherry and I used this question during our planning session a few weeks ago. As we talked about what we wanted to see happen in our lives and in the lives of our kids, we would ask, "What do we need to do in the everyday to get us there?"

I began thinking about how I pray in regards to the principle of the path. As I analyzed the things I bring before God, I saw that I pray a lot for the destination but not so much for the path that will get us their. Let me give you an example.

I regularly pray that God's word would be central to the lives of my kids. Not a bad prayer, really but how does that line up under the principle of the path?

Even though I am praying for the destination, I will need to teach, model and come along beside my kids to help make it happen. As I looked further, I realized Satan puts a lot stumbling blocks in my way from making that happen. (Sometimes Satan doesn't need to do anything at all because I am the stumbling block.)

What if I began praying about the day to day things that determine the path? 

• Lord, change my heart to make your word a priority. 

• Father, give me courage tonight as I try to teach my children about you.

• God, give me strength to set aside regular time to lead my family in studying your word.

Good Parent vs Great Parent

What kind of parent are you: good or great?

Most people when asked this question are willing to label themselves as a "pretty good" parent but they are reluctant to put themselves in the "great" category because when they analyze their child’s behavior it seems less than perfect. If this is the case, then you are probably measuring the wrong thing.  So what is the difference between a good parent and a great parent?  

A good parent is one that is involved in their child’s life.  They attend their child’s activities and get involved with their education and spiritual development.  A great parent is more than just involved, they are strategic.  A great parent knows their child, has goals for them and a plan to help the child achieve them. 

 

Making a Plan
 

While becoming a strategic parent may seem like an overwhelming task, it is not as difficult as you may think. Taking in consideration things like your child’s personality, their love language, strengths and weakness you can begin to set goals for them that you can focus on during the year.

 

Over the last five years, my wife Sherry and I have looked at each of our children and tried to set goals for them in various aspects of their lives. We home school our kids so it is necessary to set academic goals but we also look at the character, spiritual and relational parts of who they are. Ultimately we want them to become who God wants them to be.

 

We needed a way to talk about these goals and write them down so we created what we call our four quadrant grid for each of our kids. Download Strategic Parenting Planning Sheet

 

First, we talk about their strengths and weaknesses.  Then we write down their personality types, interests and their love language. As you talk and share about these things goals will naturally surface.

 

It is encouraging each year to look back over the previous years and see how each child has grown and developed.