Caroline Flohr's Blog: Caroline Flohr, author's personal blog - Posts Tagged "parenting"
setting family goals. leading my family.
I have five children, a husband, a busy life. I’m organized; my time is structured; goals are set and met. And like most families we stay somewhat balanced and everyone seems happy. But recently my friend who works for The Ken Blanchard Companies shared with me a book titled Lead Your Family Like Jesus. I’m Catholic so the title didn’t bother me. But if it does bother you let’s consider Jesus as a person. I think you will agree that Jesus led with a servant heart, that is, serving others with love as the ultimate goal. And, if you are reading this post then family is important to you.
Well, I engulfed the book, underlining key ideas, pausing and reflecting, as the book instructed me to do so. About half-way through I realized that I had never really considered what it means to lead a family. Yes, I have expectations for my marriage and my children, and we have family traditions, attend Mass regularly, and all those things that families do. And I have my personal agenda. I know what I want and where I am headed. But…my husband and I have never really discussed who we are, what we want and where we are headed as a family. And we’ve been married too long. I finished Mr. Blanchard’s book, set aside my ego, let my humility shine, and created an outline for a family meeting.
What is the vision we have for our family? What’s our purpose? Where are we going? What’s to guide us? Do we focus on what is temporary or what lasts forever? Do we lead our family from the heart? What are our intentions and motives? What are the battles worth fighting? How does our family fit into our community? How can we serve those we love and those in our community? What traditions inspire us? The list of questions continues.
Our children are watching us and I want to set up my family to win. I want my family to live with respect, kindness, integrity, and fairness. I want us to use our hearts, heads, hands, and habits to live and love. I want us to connect with each other, with our communities, and the world around us. One of my earliest readers said in her review, “… all we have is time.” If time is all we really have then it’s those connections that matter when the end comes. Faith and family are most important to me. And yes, Jesus matters in our family.
How do you lead your family? I invite you to share your values and your visions and how you are reaching your goals. And if you’ve never formulated a family plan, I encourage you to do so today. As Mr. Blanchard says, “Leading your family like Jesus focuses on what’s really important. And it all starts in the heart.”
Caroline Flohr, Author, writing true stories from a mother’s heart.
www.CarolineFlohr.com
- See more at: http://www.carolineflohr.com/setting-...
Well, I engulfed the book, underlining key ideas, pausing and reflecting, as the book instructed me to do so. About half-way through I realized that I had never really considered what it means to lead a family. Yes, I have expectations for my marriage and my children, and we have family traditions, attend Mass regularly, and all those things that families do. And I have my personal agenda. I know what I want and where I am headed. But…my husband and I have never really discussed who we are, what we want and where we are headed as a family. And we’ve been married too long. I finished Mr. Blanchard’s book, set aside my ego, let my humility shine, and created an outline for a family meeting.
What is the vision we have for our family? What’s our purpose? Where are we going? What’s to guide us? Do we focus on what is temporary or what lasts forever? Do we lead our family from the heart? What are our intentions and motives? What are the battles worth fighting? How does our family fit into our community? How can we serve those we love and those in our community? What traditions inspire us? The list of questions continues.
Our children are watching us and I want to set up my family to win. I want my family to live with respect, kindness, integrity, and fairness. I want us to use our hearts, heads, hands, and habits to live and love. I want us to connect with each other, with our communities, and the world around us. One of my earliest readers said in her review, “… all we have is time.” If time is all we really have then it’s those connections that matter when the end comes. Faith and family are most important to me. And yes, Jesus matters in our family.
How do you lead your family? I invite you to share your values and your visions and how you are reaching your goals. And if you’ve never formulated a family plan, I encourage you to do so today. As Mr. Blanchard says, “Leading your family like Jesus focuses on what’s really important. And it all starts in the heart.”
Caroline Flohr, Author, writing true stories from a mother’s heart.
www.CarolineFlohr.com
- See more at: http://www.carolineflohr.com/setting-...
A Little Silence, Please
I need some silence, please. My world is plugged and ready to go. Lacking is silence.
And I’m beginning to understand that there’s an art to silence. I can’t change my noisy world but I can disconnect.
After children are delivered to school, the drive home is silent. Silence surrounds me on a morning run, two dogs beside me, heals crunching a leaf. Gadgets are silenced while I focus on work. Email is closed. I don’t check caller ID. Voicemail takes the messages.
Several hours pass. School releases and tending turns toward children. They flip on the radio as chatter erupts, errands are run and the children race to their afternoon activities. Everyone is busy and engaged. They ask for help with homework. SpongeBob and the latest YouTube video fill the voids. I ask them to turn off the background noise. They claim it’s necessary for their focus. Can’t they think in silence? Do they fear silence? Dinner needs tending. The sight of the TV annoys me. I close the cabinet.
When the children are tucked in for the night and all is quiet, I go to bed with headphones listening to a meditation track. The vibration of the music seems to settle the constant flurry of activity that flutters through my head, remnants of the day. Plugged in, I feel content. Stillness returns. But where is silence?
It’s silence I crave. Being alone energizes me. Am I an introvert? But maybe I’d feel differently if my world wasn’t constantly plugged in and engaged, full of family and friends, moving from one activity to the next. But in the next thought..I can’t imagine my life without all the family, friends, and activity.
I’ve learned that it’s only by stepping outside my world that I can see what is most important to me. I’ve come to learn that I do my best work by just sitting still. The stillness energizes me. How do I teach my children the value of silence, stillness, and solitude? My vocabulary needs to include those three words more.
Do you fear silence? Does it energize you? And please, where do you find silence?
Heaven's Child, A true story of family, friends, and strangers
And I’m beginning to understand that there’s an art to silence. I can’t change my noisy world but I can disconnect.
After children are delivered to school, the drive home is silent. Silence surrounds me on a morning run, two dogs beside me, heals crunching a leaf. Gadgets are silenced while I focus on work. Email is closed. I don’t check caller ID. Voicemail takes the messages.
Several hours pass. School releases and tending turns toward children. They flip on the radio as chatter erupts, errands are run and the children race to their afternoon activities. Everyone is busy and engaged. They ask for help with homework. SpongeBob and the latest YouTube video fill the voids. I ask them to turn off the background noise. They claim it’s necessary for their focus. Can’t they think in silence? Do they fear silence? Dinner needs tending. The sight of the TV annoys me. I close the cabinet.
When the children are tucked in for the night and all is quiet, I go to bed with headphones listening to a meditation track. The vibration of the music seems to settle the constant flurry of activity that flutters through my head, remnants of the day. Plugged in, I feel content. Stillness returns. But where is silence?
It’s silence I crave. Being alone energizes me. Am I an introvert? But maybe I’d feel differently if my world wasn’t constantly plugged in and engaged, full of family and friends, moving from one activity to the next. But in the next thought..I can’t imagine my life without all the family, friends, and activity.
I’ve learned that it’s only by stepping outside my world that I can see what is most important to me. I’ve come to learn that I do my best work by just sitting still. The stillness energizes me. How do I teach my children the value of silence, stillness, and solitude? My vocabulary needs to include those three words more.
Do you fear silence? Does it energize you? And please, where do you find silence?
Heaven's Child, A true story of family, friends, and strangers
Caroline Flohr, author's personal blog
I write about what's most important to me. In particular, I write about things I want my kids to know, things I want them to remember. And I bet my thoughts aren't far from yours! I hope you enjoy my ...more
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