I have a very annoying habit of not using my windshield wipers. It must originate from the first time I ever put RainX on my windshield in college and all of the water just magically flew off of my windshield. I stopped using my windshield wipers for a few weeks and just like that I had a new and not very safe habit. Much to the dismay of the passengers in my car, I only turn them on in monsoons. Why? I feel like I can see just fine even with drops of water all over the windshield. My wife has quite a bit to say about this and my thoughts on marital health will be reserved for another post.
You know what annoys her about my little habit (other than basic personal safety)? Her vision is limited. She's moving down a road and just isn't sure how to react to what is coming.
Despite my lack of concern for vision in a car while it's raining, I've always been concerned about having a vision for the different roles in my life. More specifically, I seem to be drawn to thinking through and isolating things that are most important to me and making that my vision. Let me give a quick example...
W.H.U.T.
Every parent wants to raise good kids. My wife and I spend tons of time dealing with anything and everything that pertains to parenting our teens. Like correcting my son after he drew all over his sister's face while she was asleep and trying not to laugh too hard at her. One of the things my wife and I did years ago was create a vision of the character traits that we wanted our children to embody. There are lots of important character traits but through conversation with each other and time in God's Word we just decided there were four that seemed to be most important in our home. What I'm about to share is complicated because parenting is complicated. Very flawed adults trying to raise children with many of the same flaws. These things are imperfectly applied around the Hobbs house so try and think about the concept not necessarily the execution of it. I thank you in advance for not roasting me. A perfect parent, I am not.
Almost every morning for 13 years, when I've dropped the kids off to school in the morning or said goodbye as they now run out the door to their own car, I've said, 'Be whut God wants you to be. Work hard. Be honest. Be unselfish. Be tough.' That's it. The kids mostly roll their eyes every time, but that's the vision we had for who we wanted our kids to be. My wife and I felt that most problems were solved or caused with one of these four character traits. When we have had to parent them through all of the garbage that life throws at parents and children, we have turned on the W.H.U.T. windshield wipers.
I'm not advocating for these character traits as more important than others, but I am advocating that you carve out some time to think, reflect, read, and pray about a vision for the important roles in your life. It will help you to know how react to what is coming down the highway of life especially when storms of turmoil are raging.
So how's your vision?
You know what annoys her about my little habit (other than basic personal safety)? Her vision is limited. She's moving down a road and just isn't sure how to react to what is coming.
Despite my lack of concern for vision in a car while it's raining, I've always been concerned about having a vision for the different roles in my life. More specifically, I seem to be drawn to thinking through and isolating things that are most important to me and making that my vision. Let me give a quick example...
W.H.U.T.
Every parent wants to raise good kids. My wife and I spend tons of time dealing with anything and everything that pertains to parenting our teens. Like correcting my son after he drew all over his sister's face while she was asleep and trying not to laugh too hard at her. One of the things my wife and I did years ago was create a vision of the character traits that we wanted our children to embody. There are lots of important character traits but through conversation with each other and time in God's Word we just decided there were four that seemed to be most important in our home. What I'm about to share is complicated because parenting is complicated. Very flawed adults trying to raise children with many of the same flaws. These things are imperfectly applied around the Hobbs house so try and think about the concept not necessarily the execution of it. I thank you in advance for not roasting me. A perfect parent, I am not.
Almost every morning for 13 years, when I've dropped the kids off to school in the morning or said goodbye as they now run out the door to their own car, I've said, 'Be whut God wants you to be. Work hard. Be honest. Be unselfish. Be tough.' That's it. The kids mostly roll their eyes every time, but that's the vision we had for who we wanted our kids to be. My wife and I felt that most problems were solved or caused with one of these four character traits. When we have had to parent them through all of the garbage that life throws at parents and children, we have turned on the W.H.U.T. windshield wipers.
I'm not advocating for these character traits as more important than others, but I am advocating that you carve out some time to think, reflect, read, and pray about a vision for the important roles in your life. It will help you to know how react to what is coming down the highway of life especially when storms of turmoil are raging.
So how's your vision?
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on
being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read
about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director
of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few
degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school
sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated
most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter
for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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