Boys, There’s Work to Be Done

I got this email from a guy that we listened to by the name of Todd Wilson at the Home School Conference. They have 8 kids and spend half the year traveling in an RV to speak at conferences. I like him because he is real and passionate about his family and their direction. Enjoy.


We’re home---not for a stop-off, but for good. I’m telling you, there’s nothing like the pure ecstasy of going into a regular bathroom, taking as much time as you want, using as much toilet paper as you want, and then---never having to see it again.

The only drawback of getting home is the mountain of stuff that needs attention. There are cars to fix (how do they get broken when no one has driven them), landscapes to tame, and a big RV that needs to be emptied (3 ½ months worth of junk, souvenirs, and supplies).

My kids would like to take it easy and kick back (which we’ve allowed), but I’m often calling up to their rooms and saying, “Boys, there’s work to be done.”

But that’s not the real work. The real work isn’t something that can be checked off a list that easily. The REAL work has to do with my family. You see the last couple of months in the crucible have brought some ugly stuff to the surface---not only in my children but also in me.

Along with some pretty spectacular sights, we have also seen some bad attitudes, crummy responses, lack of obedience, and over all yuckiness that needs to be dealt with. That’s the great thing about living in a crucible; it reveals what was already there to begin with but needed a little coaxing to see. Life on the road does just that.

The really awful thing about the whole deal is that so much of the ‘dross’ I saw in them is the same ‘dross’ that I see in me. I heard stuff coming out of their mouths and said, “Don’t talk like that!” only to hear the same things come out of my mouth 15 minutes later.

So after using this week to rest and relax (yeah, right) we start on all the HARD work. We’ll meet on the screened-in porch and talk about what we all need to work on, how we plan to do that, and what will be expected of them---and me.

I wish I had some kind of magic formula, special pill, or some incredible method to share with you so you can work on the ‘dross’ in your family too---but there is no more of a magical potion for cleaning up the crud in your life than there is for cleaning up the crud in your YARD.
It’s just hard work---lead by a dad.

And guess what?
You ‘da dad.

Boys, there’s work to be done,
Todd

Time? Money? Emotions?

I had a good talk with a friend and I wanted to share the jist of our conversation.

We do such a great job of marginalizing our lives to the very edge of our time and money and emotions that we don’t leave any room to act when the Holy Spirit wants us to. If we left some time and money and emotional awareness in our system, we would be free to act when the Holy Spirit calls for it. Not many people leave an ounce of those 3 items.

We went on to discuss the principle in the Old Testament called “gleaning”, where the farmers would only harvest the inside and leave the outside of their crops for those that couldn’t afford it. This is a challenge for me that I work on everyday. I see others struggle with this concept as well. How can we be better at “Gleaning” our time, money and emotions? We are listening but are we hearing?

Marci forwarded something to me that I thought went right along with the same thought pattern. Check it out http://floatingaxhead.com/2008/06/27/white-men-cant-listen/.

My hope in blogging is to be able to share some thought provoking scenarios that we all can grow from or just to share how things are going in the life of ministry work.

What am I doing?

Well, I have fallen to the constant pressure for me to start blogging. I will be talking to someone and they will say, "You need to blog about that topic", or I would share a Vision Onward (http://www.visiononward.org/) story and they would say I need to be sharing those or writing them down.

My blog address fits with where we are trying to go as a family in regards to what most of Amercia views as important. I have gone through some serious changes in my life over the last year and half and over time I hope to share those with you and share random thoughts, ideas and questions. As I'm typing this, I'm looking over at my wife and said, "I really hate blogging so this will be interesting for me." I'm the type of person that would rather just talk than to sit down and type. Anyways I hope you enjoy!