These posts written by Todd (Amy’s husband) are designed to model a system of purposeful living. At least once a month, he spends time setting meaningful goals around one of seventeen core priorities.
If you missed it, consider reading the foundation post – Purposeful Living #1.
Correct Priority #1 – Spiritual Health
Goal – November 10, 2012Deepen my prayer life by turning off the radio and praying during my ten minute drive to work in the morning. Focus on specific elements of prayer:
Praise
Confession
Waiting
Petition – Myself
Intercession – Others
Thanksgiving
Thoughts
For years when I was teaching I used my morning drive to school to pray. But since moving to Lincoln and starting a new job a few years ago I have gotten away from this. My prayer life has not been nearly as consistent or rich as it used to be. Praying in the car is a great use of time and is something I need to bring back.
Correct Priority #1 – Spiritual Health
Goal – November 10, 2012
Deepen my prayer life by developing ways to improve specific elements of my prayer life. Specific elements I want to focus on are listed below.
Praise – Find a comprehensive list of attributes of God and pray through this list.
Waiting – Identify a few simple praise songs that I can sing silently to God during this portion of my prayer time.
Intercession – Develop a written list of people I want to pray for. Maybe even break it down according to days of the week.
Thoughts
I tend to pray for the same people and things each day. I want to become more purposeful with my prayer time.
Correct Priority #1 – Spiritual Health
Goal – November 10, 2012
Be purposeful about finding life giving Christian music and adding these songs to my ipod playlist.
Thoughts
Correct Priority #1 – Spiritual Health
I don’t listen to a lot of Christian music. I don’t listen to music much at all, but when I do I like my techno. Mostly I listen to talk radio. But I do want to balance what I listen to with music that glorifies my Father. I need to find a way to stay connected enough to contemporary Christian music to always have a few songs that are moving to me and remind me of what is most important.
Goal – November 10, 2012
I need to always be reading one life giving book focused on growing in my relationship with God. Specifically, I need to develop a process for identifying great books to read.
Thoughts
I’ve been reading through the entire Bible over the last couple of years which has been a great use of my time. But I also want to supplement that reading with literature focused on nurturing my personal relationship with Him.
Correct Priority #4 – Social Health – Immediate Family–Spouse
Goal – November 10, 2012
Read and discuss two chapters of The Five Love Languages: The Secret To Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman with Amy every weekend through the end of the year in order to finish the book.
Thoughts
I had a goal to discuss one chapter of this book with Amy on every date night and unfortunately this did not happen. But we still need to finish this book before the end of the year so that is what we are going to do.
Correct Priority #4 – Social Health – Immediate Family–Spouse
Goal – November 10, 2012
Plan a 2013 cruise vacation for Amy & myself.
Thoughts
I had the most amazing time on our family trip to Disney this year. So much so, that I am ready to begin planning another vacation. A big family vacation is out of the question as I will be paying off Disney for at least another year. But a cruise for Amy & I may be doable. Amy has been talking about wanting to do another cruise since our honeymoon and it would be a ton of fun. And I am hoping it can also be affordable. A very preliminary look at cruise prices suggests to me that we could do a 5-day cruise for a reasonable price. We still may not be able to afford it, but it is worth looking into.
Correct Priority #5 – Social Health – Immediate Family–Children (Spiritual Health)
Goal – November 10, 2012
Develop a detailed family spiritual plan to better ground my three girls in God’s word. Specific elements of this plan include the items listed below.
- Identify a book that can be read and discussed as a family over dinner.
- Identify appropriate Bible study materials for a once-a-week family Bible study time.
- Identify an appropriate time when we can discuss Bible trivia as a family.
- Develop a plan for grounding our girls in Biblical apologetics.
- Develop a plan for grounding our girls in Christian music that they really like.
- Identify devotional books for each girl for them to read each evening before bed.
- Develop a plan to help each girl identify Christian books to read.
- Identify and purchase new Bibles for Teagan and Colsie now that they are teenagers.
Thoughts
I spent a great deal of time over the past year planning our family Florida vacation. This planning paid off with an amazing trip. It may have been the best two weeks of my life.
But in the process of planning this vacation I neglected many other things, including being a good parent. I have been convicted since returning from out trip that I need to dedicate more time and do a better job in a variety of areas that are far more important that vacation.
One area in which I know I need to improve is being the spiritual leader of our home and doing what I can to better ground my girls in their faith. Each time they step out of our home they enter a world where many despise the gospel of Jesus Christ. They enter a world that is hostile to God’s word.
When my children our older they will have to decide for themselves what they believe. But there is zero chance I will stay silent while they are bombarded with messages contrary to what God wants for them every day of their life.
My first responsibility is to model for them what it means to live a Godly life and be sensitive to His will. My next responsibility is to make sure they know what is true and right. I will not ignore either of these responsibilities.
Correct Priority #5 – Social Health – Immediate Family–Children (Emotional Health)
Goal – November 10, 2012
Help Teagan deepen her knowledge about how to effectively run a business.
- Identify a small business book that we can read and discuss together.
- Identify a small business owner of a similar business for Teagan to interview.
Thoughts
Teagan desires to continue growing her Twisted Tape business. Amy has done a great job helping Teagan with the mechanics of starting this business. Teagan has asked me to help her grow in her understanding of how to run an effective business.
{Duct Tape Rings by Twisted Tape}
I am definitely not an expert in business and/or sales. But I am a learner and know how to go about deepening my knowledge of subject matter I am interested in.
I am going to first help Teagan by finding a an appropriate book for us to read and discuss. Whether the book is related to growing a business or more specific to being an effective salesperson, I want to find something that will be of genuine help to her to support her in this project.
Correct Priority #5 – Social Health – Immediate Family–Children (Emotional Health)
Goal – November 10, 2012
Develop and implement clear behavior consequences for my three girls when they choose to misbehave.
Thoughts
At the beginning of this year I set a goal to develop a comprehensive chart and chore system. I have completed this goal and will be posting details about this system hopefully soon.
The effective chart system has eliminated many behavior problems, but not all of them. The final step is to put in place appropriate consequences to address remaining misbehavior. I have some good initial ideas on what to do and I am excited to begin this process.
Correct Priority #5 – Social Health – Immediate Family–Children (Emotional Health)
Goal – November 10, 2012
Develop bedtime discussion topics.
Thoughts
Bedtime is potentially such a valuable time to connect with my girls. Praying with them is a great bedtime routine, but I want to take it further by taking advantage of this time alone with them to talk and get to know them better.
I don’t want to assume that they are always okay. I want to be aware of the things they are struggling with and offer encouragement and advice if possible.
By developing a list of topics and simple questions I think it opens up opportunities to both deepen my relationship with my girls and also play a small mentoring role as they make their way through life.
Correct Priority #5 – Social Health – Immediate Family–Children (Mental Health-Scolarship)
Goal – November 10, 2012
Discuss with Amy and develop a plan to increase the amount of time our girls spend reading.
Thoughts
Our girls have always been okay readers. They read enough that I never thought much about it or thought I had to do anything about it. But recently I have noticed they aren’t doing a lot of reading. Instead they are spending all their time on their iPods or Kindles playing games or watching Netflix.
I am thinking it may be time for Amy and I to parent a bit in this area. We may need to limit the time they spend on screens and increase the amount of time they spend in books. I don’t have anything specific in mind right now. Hopefully Amy & I can figure this out when we talk about it.
Foundation Post
Build Your To-Do List Around Correct Priorities – Purposeful Living #1
Outline Of All Purposeful Living Posts
Purposeful Living Outline
