10.31.2012

Family Planning

Yesterday at MOPS 
we talked about raising a purposeful family.
Beginning with the end in mind,
looking at the big picture.
What does our family look like to outsiders?
How do they describe us?
What is our family known for? 
Who do we hope our kids will be in 10 years? 20 years?
What are our family core values?
As I'm sure you can imagine,
this sparked some great discussions.

We were given worksheets so we can 
'map out our destination'
so I brought it home.
Last night over tea Spencer and I discussed
our goals and dreams for our family,
and specifically our kids.
As parents we have a big impact
(along with many outside influences like teachers and friends)
on shaping our children, a huge responsibility.

It was exciting (and a little bit scary)
to think about Claire and our other future children as teenagers,
adults and eventually mommies and daddies raising their own families.
We talked about what kinds of things we hope they take
from their experiences, lessons and opportunities
to teach to their own kids.

One of the activities was to finish these sentences for your family -

We will, We won't and We Try To.
Thinking about your own family, 
how would you finish these sentences?
Even if you don't have kids,
or your kids are already grown,
you can still complete them.
We had quite a few for each, but I will give you just a few examples.

We Try To
live a life pleasing to Jesus and obey his commands,
discern between needs and wants.

We Will
work hard, 
live a missional life,
encourage each other

We Won't
talk down to one another,
give up

How would you finish that sentence?
I'd love to hear.

It was almost two years ago that we found out
we were pregnant.
It has gone by so fast.
When I think 10 years into the future
and know that Claire will be ELEVEN it freaks me out.
My mom said it best
(always providing words of wisdom on days that I seem to need it most),
"The days are long but the years are short."
Amen, Mama.









1 comment:

  1. oooh how I love you guys. Youre amazing parents and the best friends. Loooooove you. Those are GREAT questions to chat about, will proceed to do so with Andrew and let you know! xoxo

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