Robin and I had never written our family vision down until a few weeks ago when we were asked to do it for a project we are working on. I don’t really know why we had never written it down. I’ve been around a lot of people who have written their vision statements and even some that lead seminars to help families with their family vision. But we just had not done it. We knew in our heads what it was but we had never written it out where we could look at it or show it to others and really understand what our vision is all about.

When we did it became clear why everyone should.

Interestingly, because we have been living it for years, it only took a few minutes to do it, and then a little more tweaking the next day.

It’s not magic but it just clarifies what you have maybe known (or maybe not known) about the direction of your family. Since we have written it down I have looked at it for guidance and direction. Your vision statement helps to keep you on track. It can also help others around you to understand why you do what you do. I’m big on passing down to my family what is and has been important in our life. I also want my family to know the direction they might go to accomplish what God has called them into.

Maybe your family is about helping the poor, maybe you’re about loving and serving others, and maybe you haven’t even thought about a direction for your family.

What is your reason for being here together? There is one.

Have you got a family vision statement? Have you written it down? Do you think it’s important?

Dirk

The Many Meadows’ are taking a break this week!

Dirk, Kody and Jacob will be working.

Robin will be gardening and painting.

Erin, Ali and Brad, and Abbi will be up to their usual busy selves.

Alexander and Katie are actually staying in OK this school break, and will be enjoying visits with friends and have NO school!

Anna, Kody and Jacob leave for a mission trip on Thursday.

Look for us to all be back Monday, March 23.

What are you doing for spring break?

Observing my kids through the years in their academic education I noticed they hated to make mistakes. Many times some of them would go off in a huff because of missing a math problem or not spelling something correctly. In fact, you could almost be assured that they would be affected for a little while after making a mistake.

In the business world I think it is just the same. A business makes a mistake in buying or selling or maybe making a hiring mistake. It affects that business.

Why do I bring this up? The pressure to be right and the self-imposed disposition for everything to go smoothly and easily has caused us as a society to become fearful of taking risks. But, I’ve found that those mistakes are some of the greatest lessons in my life. My favorite reading is self help books and character quality building books and without exception making mistakes and learning from those mistakes and overcoming the fear of risk is common in all of them.

Personally has fear or failure ever caused you to withdraw from an activity that might have grown you?  Overcoming our fears and being willing to make mistakes can either push us forward or hold us back. I want to move forward.

Are you a risk taker? Does the fear of risk freeze your progress? What are some ideas and methods you have found to overcome fear?

Dirk

I am just so blown away by this amazing opportunity that I had to share it! I was just invited to dance in a professional Christian dance company! We’ll get to do all kinds of dance/missions such as in Time’s Square, Israel, and many other places around the world. What a great chance to use my talent to reach the homeless, lost, orphaned, hungry, etc! I mean, this is such a God thing right? It’s only one day a week commitment for now, it’s my passion and what I have trained for most of my life.
 
 
Well, guess what? This amazing opportunity that God has led other people to do, isn’t a God thing for me right now, and I’m not going to do it, nor did I consider it very long. You see, God gave me a very clear calling, and no matter how great this opportunity seems, it doesn’t fit under the purpose of my life right now.
 
 
One day a thought hit me like a brick in the head. You know when you’re reading those verses like, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19) Well my “nations” at this time in my life are right under my own roof! Now anytime I read about the lost and hear pastors preaching about going out to the world I first think what that means in my own household, and most of the time I feel God urging me to keep doing my mission work right at home.
 
 
I do care deeply and am able to do some things that still fall under my purpose as far as giving and serving in my community, and the day will come when I can do even more and include my little guys in the process. I’m really thankful for those individuals and families that have the calling to go into the world, because the homeless, orphaned, and hungry people really do need great Christian people serving them.
 
 
For now though, I’m fully devoted to just being a wife and mom, and all those so called “amazing opportunities” can just keep passing me by. I’ve got amazing opportunities happening each day as I serve my husband and train my kids!
 
 
What “amazing opportunities” have you passed up to fulfill a seemingly lesser calling?

Erin

Last week, I asked a question about openness, which led to a second question:What are you going to do about being put here on this earth? If you agree with me about being open to learning righteousness then what will it take to accomplish what God wants of your life?  Openness is an attitude that we have to have every single day. I didn’t say that you can’t have your own opinions and beliefs but to think we have already learned everything leads us to an unhealthy comfort.

The next attitude we need to develop is removing ourselves from our comfort zone. “But it is so comfortable there”, you say to yourself, “why would I want to do that?” It’s the only way you will experience where you haven’t gone before, and it will lead to personal growth. You know I’m right. This is not the first time you’ve heard this. Why is this so hard? It’s because it is sooo uncomfortable!

Going against the natural state of things is hard. Just like learning to transform ourselves from the nature we are born with. For example, the thought of physical exercise is the biggest hurdle in accomplishing our goal of being fit. And once we actually begin, it feels good.  It takes us actually beginning to exercise to get us out of the comfort of sitting on the couch or lying in bed extra long in the morning.  But I say we have help. And that help comes from God and His Spirit. Believe me, you can’t do it on your own.

What does this have to do with fathering or heritage? I contend that to answer the question at the top of this post we must overcome the fear and laziness that keeps us from fulfilling what we want for ourselves, our kids and our kid’s families, and on and on. Fear keeps us from being open to new thoughts and taking risks-getting out of our comfort zone–one thing that just might help us put this puzzle of life together.

Do you see the value of getting out of your comfort zone? What are you doing to remove yourself from that zone? Share with us; what other attitudes can help us overcome the hard issues of life?

Dirk

Being a good father takes change like it does to become a Christ-follower. We are born without righteousness and without what it takes to become a model to others. But through Christ we can be redeemed and set on a course to be one of His workmen. If you look at yourself in a mirror and ask, “What in the world am I doing here,” what would you answer?

Surely you weren’t put here just to indulge in the world’s treasures. That’s what an animal does. We have another dimension that can’t be filled with “things.” It has to be filled with a connection of purpose. I say connection because we are void without that connection to God our maker.

Have you ever known someone who lost connection with his or her father, mother or sibling? The hurt and pain inside of them not having that exchange of love and understanding is excruciating. This is how it is if we don’t find or we reject that God is calling us. It’s a void that we try to fill with all sorts of things. If and when we do hear God calling us we have to be open and accepting.

Openness is an attitude that we have to have to follow God and His calling. As a father (or a mother) I think openness is one of the hardest attitudes to have and keep but it is essential to having a healthy Godly life. We, as fathers  are models to others and a representation of God to our earthly kids. Openness helps us adapt to all the training in righteousness we need in order to be able to answer that next question, “what am I going to do about being here?”

Are you an open person…come on be honest….truly open to learning from different places and sources?  Are you still learning?

More to come on attitudes. Think about, “what you’re going to do about being here.”

Dirk

You know those days when everything you’ve worked so hard to teach your children just seems to fall apart?  All the things you’ve preached and lived and breathed into them.  And now it suddenly seems like they never heard a word you said.  Their choices or responses aren’t matching up to the efforts you’ve poured into helping them understand.  The importance of things like responsibility, obedience, honor.

Well, it happened to me again recently.  And it didn’t make me feel so happy.  In fact, I felt like a really bad mom….once again.

So, this time I took a moment to reflect on how I was going to handle it. I had to consciously choose to:

• Recognize that my children’s choices weren’t necessarily against me personally. 
• Try not to transfer my negative feelings onto everything else bothering me in my life and blow it out of proportion.
• Recognize the lies of the enemy desiring to bring discord and destruction into my heart and mind.
• Recognize that this is a time when I start comparing myself to others
• Take all thoughts captive to the Truth

Realizing the truth and not believing the lies didn’t change my heart immediately.  I still had feelings of being a failure.  But they were short-lived and I was able to quickly move on with my day, choosing instead to believe that progress can indeed come, even with my failings.

A different perspective gave birth to better thoughts, a better mind-set.

Do you struggle with thinking you’re a failure?  Do you have trouble separating the lies from the Truth?

Robin

Hope we haven’t overwhelmed you with too much talk of Heritage this week.  It’s a passion and we enjoy sharing it.   Look for  Dirk to be back next week with more on Fathering and attitudes.

Erin has started her own daily blog, “Our Life is School”,  but she’s promised to stick around here too.  Catch her daily work and play with her family and enjoy seeing the activities she does with her two little men.

Kody is currently taking a class on music innovation from The Colleys at Sunday Recording in Oklahoma City.  Before he’s finished he is to write and record a song!  He’s really enjoying the class.  Contact the Colley’s if you’re interested in having your kiddo attend one of their classes.

Brad and Ali bought a home in Edmond!  They will be leaving the ManyMeadows compound  in a couple of weeks.  We’ll miss seeing those precious girls each day…oh, and Brad and Ali too. J

We had our first family gathering Thursday night to discuss the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”.  We’re considering forming a corporation for the family.  More to come on that. 

Work continues on our bedroom remodel.  Do you have any idea how much dirt is underneath your carpet?  Whew!  Glad to have it out of there. The new floor is next on the list.    We’re considering doing the stained concrete ourselves this time. (we have it in most of our house).  Anyone have experience with that? 

Have any great weekend plans?  Involved in any remodeling of your own?

Robin

For the next couple of weeks our family is bringing you a series on Heritage.  This is a core value of our family, something that Dirk taught us.  It is a strong passion of his.  He’ll share a couple of days and then you’ll hear some fun (or funny)  memories from some of our kids.  I may even have some things to share  

We hope our experiences will encourage you to keep going during those difficult days of parenting.

We’ve discovered that the rewards far outweigh the efforts.

See you next week!

Robin

Lily (Ali’s daughter) recently turned 4 and asked me to make her a “pink princess cake” for her party. So how did I turn THIS  and THIS  into THIS? 

 Come on over to my cake/bookmaking blog and see the steps that transformed batter into a pretty princess.

(And if you don’t want to follow the steps yourself but you still want to impress the people at your party, I’d be happy to make one for your little princess.)

I should note that “Boys will be boys”. As I carried the cake into Lily’s party, nephew Will asked, “Is that Lily’s princess cake?” When I said that it was, he responded (with a sly twinkle in his eye), “I’m gonna eat her head off!” (such a boy thing to say!) So, we let him have a bite to prove that Princess’s head was plastic, not cake.

Did you have memorable cakes when you were a child? Do you make birthday cakes for your loved ones?

Abbi