Lead Me

Ok, I'm a little behind the curve on this one, but I just heard Sanctus Real's song "Lead Me" for the first time a few days ago...and man did it blow me out of the water!

Funny because recently we did our traditional family New Year's "areas I want to grow in" chart. It is basically 4 circles labeled: Spirtual, Emotional, Mental, and Physical.

In each circle we write the things we want to improve in or change about ourselves for each category. In the center of the entire diagram is a small space for us to write one central, over-arching thing that we want to work on for the year that impacts everything else.

Mine just happened to be: "Be a better leader".

Imagine the impact of hearing the song after that!

Here are some of the lyrics and links to find out more if you haven't yet heard the song...

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I am called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't you lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love
Chasing dreams that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

LEAD ME LYRICS - SANCTUS REAL

Listen on Playlist.com

The Story Behind the Song

All Parents Homeschool

Here's a re-post of the "Play of the Day" from All Pro Dad.

The title grabbed my attention since we homeschool our kids (and we are quite proud of that fact), but I realize that is not a option or doesn't fit for every family.

Regardless, we parents must remember that we are daily teaching our kids; attitudes, habits, world views, etc. This happens in our home. If you want to talk about your kids being successful in life, realize that having involved parents is the single biggest indicator of a child's success:

...even if parents send their children off to school to learn, they are almost singlehandedly the only factor that matters in their kids' educational success.

Important to remember!

All Parents Homeschool

What's a Motto for You? (Redux)

I made a post back in February of 2007 about mottoes with a link to a site with a good collection of them complete with Latin translations. Unfortunately, I just found out the site is gone! (like that never happens on the web)

Anyway, way back then I was forward-thinking enough to capture the list in a spreadsheet and use it as a test case for a Web 2.0 application framework called Zoho. I found out that it is still live (whew!) so I am creating this post to point to it.

This is a great way to get ideas for your own family or organizational motto. Just browse the mottoes or search for a particular word:

Do Hard Things

I've been searching for a book to read with my 16 year-old...this looks promising:

Written when they were 18 years old, Do Hard Things is the Harris twins' revolutionary message in its purest and most compelling form, giving readers a tangible glimpse of what is possible for teens who actively resist cultural lies that limit their potential.

Combating the idea of adolescence as a vacation from responsibility, the authors weave together biblical insights, history, and modern examples to redefine the teen years as the launching pad of life and map a clear trajectory for long-term fulfillment and eternal impact.

Written by teens for teens, Do Hard Things is packed with humorous personal anecdotes, practical examples, and stories of real-life rebelutionaries in action. This rallying cry from the heart of revolution already in progress challenges the next generation to lay claim to a brighter future, starting today.

Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris

Things happen when you say No

Good post over on Lifehacker about priorities, etc. This excerpt stood out to me, especially considering the crazy pace of our summer...

One effect of having priorities is how often you have to say no. It's one of the smallest words in the English language, yet many people have trouble saying it. The problem is that if you can't say no, you can't have priorities. The universe is a large place, but your "priority one" list should be very small. That small list means there are thousands of good ideas that must be denied to focus your energy on the ones you've chosen to pursue. If you continually say yes to ideas that do not match your priorities, you are saying yes to failure. If you want to change your priorities, that's one thing, but if you are constantly changing them then they were never priorities at all. You did not think deeply enough about them if, emotionally, they are easy to change every few hours. So a fundamental law is this: if you can't say no, if you can't protect your priorities, you can't make things happen.

For parents the ability to say no is essential to avoid the family becoming over-extended. Likewise, it is an enormous gift to give your children the ability to say no to themselves and others.

Try this. At the next family dinner tell the kids you want them to "tell yourself no at least one time tomorrow" and report back on how it went at the next dinner...you'll be amazed at what they come up with!

The Call...Your Unique Design

Part of our job as dad is to help our kids find a "career direction" in life. In the early years this can be as simple as occasionally asking "what do you want to be when you grow up?" followed by a "I think you would be great at _____."

But as they get older, except for the rare self-directed kid, you'll have to take a more active role.

One possibility I'm personally considering is to have my child take a "test". There are quite a few career/strength assessment programs out there, but here are two that are distinctively Christian in nature and approach the question from a spiritual gifts perspective. I am not sure to what degree they leverage secular personality systems like Myers-Briggs, but they definitely look interesting.

The Call

Your Unique Design

Developing a Family Mission Statement

I posted once in the past on the benefits of having a family mission statement and provided a link to a quick start builder provided by Franklin Covey.

Here's a static document that lists needs, benefits, problems, and guidelines as well as some great Biblical examples of mission statements.

This would be a great place to start for family mottoes and crests as well.

Developing a Family Mission Statement

President's Volunteer Service Award

While I am somewhat philosophically against receiving rewards for volunteer service, if you are looking for a way to encourage your kids to participate in outreach ministries or volunteer opportunities, a good way to do so is with the President's Volunteer Service Award.

"Recognizing and honoring volunteers sets a standard for service to others. It encourages a sustained commitment to civic participation and inspires others to make volunteering a central part of their lives. The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes individuals, families, and groups that have achieved a certain standard – measured by the number of hours served over a 12-month period or cumulative hours earned over the course of a lifetime."

The Goal

I recently was doing a casual search for some information on Danny Wuerffel, former NFL quarterback and winner of the 1996 Heisman Trophy as a senior playing for the University of Florida Gators. I knew he was serving for a ministry called Desire Street Ministries and wanted to find out more.

The search returned his bio on a really cool site called TheGoal.com. It appears to have the life stories and Christian testimonies of hundreds of World-Class athletes from all sports and nations!

Also included are features for various big sporting events. Check it out:

http://www.thegoal.com/

Discover Your Calling

Can you answer these questions?:

• I want to serve the Lord, but what can I do?
• Wouldn't I have to be a full-time minister to serve the Lord?
• What kind of personal ministry can I do?
• Is my work part of my calling?
• Why is it taking so long to get in gear?
• What is God's will for my life?

In this article, Patrick Morely explains what it means to have a calling and gives 12 suggestions to help you discover yours.

Discover Your Calling.doc

Family Mission Statement

Does your family have a brief, well-thought-out document describing the basic principals and goals for your family? Does everyone from parents to the smallest children know clearly "what we stand for, and what we’re dedicated to doing"?

If you have never gone through the exercise of formulating a Family Mission Statement, it is something I would highly recommend. It is the husband/dad's responsibility as the leader to make this happen!

There are lots of resources out there on how to make this a fun, learning, bonding, experience. Give this site a try for a quick start:

http://www.franklincovey.com/missionbuilder/

What's a Motto For You?

A motto is a short expression of a guiding principle. Most mottoes are statements of faith or advice, which are serious in nature. Others are humorous thoughts to remind us not to take ourselves too seriously

This site lists mottoes from various sources. Most are in Latin, but several are in other languages. If the motto is not in English, the English translation for it is listed beside the motto.

Updated to point to another post with the captured list:

http://warriorshand.blogspot.com/2008/11/whats-motto-for-you-redux.html

Inspired Goal Setting

Need some inspiration for teaching your children to set goals?

John Goddard is one of the world's most famous adventurers and a world-class motivational speaker. Articles about him appear in Life, National Geographic Magazine, Reader's Digest, and the book Chicken Soup for the Soul.

John, at age 15, put together a list of 127 things he would like to do or see or experience during his lifetime. Today, John is 74, and he has completed 109 of his goals. Read the list, and be amazed…

http://www.wamware.com/world-religions/life-list.htm