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Spiritual Formation

5 Traits of Successful College Students

April 3, 2013 — 1 Comment

This week I had the opportunity to write an article for Bright Hub Media.

Bright Hub’s goal is to provide Technology, Science and Education information that people can act on. Bright Hub is an online community of experts and life-long enthusiasts who help brighthub.com visitors make better decisions, easily solve problems, and learn more about their interests with wide-ranging and highly informative articles.

I wrote an article entitled, 5 Traits of Successful College Students. The article teaches students five traits they can incorporate into their lives to be more successful. For the past several years I’ve taught college students on a daily basis. I’ve seen some students transition into adulthood really well during and after college and some who have not. This article highlights the traits of those who have transitioned well.

Head over there and check it out and let me know what you think. Also, please take the time to “tweet” or “Like” the article to your friends. Finally, leave a comment and show me some love!

In Family, Leadership, Personal Development
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You can’t choose to be a role model. The only choice you get is what kind you’ll be.

Eric Speir

Role Models

Posted on February 1, 2013 In Family, Fathers, Leadership, Quotes
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The 3 Most Important Decisions Parents Must Help Their Children Make

October 26, 2012 — 12 Comments

Parenting is not easy. We spend the baby years trying to keep them out of trouble. We spend their middle years teaching them to stay out of trouble and we spend their teenage years praying they will stay out of trouble.

In the development of children we move them from dependence to partnership to autonomy.

The goal of parenting and raising children is raising responsible self-sustaining adults. I joke with my wife all the time that I’m trying to get my children off of my payroll. If I can get them off my payroll, then that means they’re responsible adults. One of the keys to all of this is teaching your children how to make good decisions.

We teach our children to make good decisions by emphasizing two important factors:

  1. Obedience brings blessings.
  2. Disobedience bring curses.

When you make a good decision there are usually positive outcomes that come with it. When you make a bad decision there are usually consequences that come with it. I don’t want to oversimplify this, but this pretty much sums it up. The Bible reminds us of this in Deuteronomy 28.

In teaching children to make good decisions there are three we can’t afford to mess up:

  1. Who will they serve? Their eternity.
  2. Who will they marry? Their mate.
  3. What they will do? Their calling.

I’m convinced if we can teach and coach our children on how to get these decisions right, then most of the other decisions in their lives will work out.

Question: How will you help your children begin to think about these three decisions?

In Devotionals, Family, Fathers, Leadership
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One Surefire Way To Kill Productivity In Your Life

October 16, 2012 — 7 Comments

Many people are looking for an edge that will make them more productive in life. We seem to be obsessed with being productive in our culture. Every year more books are sold on this area of leadership than any other kind. There are a myriad of articles, blog posts, tweets and even apps that are devoted to being more productive.

Recently, I read a Scripture in the Old Testament that got my attention. It’s found in 2 Samuel 6:23 and it says, “And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.”

You’re probably wondering what this Scripture has to do with productivity. I’m glad you asked! Follow along with me…

In the preceding verses King David was celebrating in front of his people as the ark of God was being led to the City of David. In this account David had been dancing before the Lord and when his wife saw him she began to secretly criticize him.

When David returned home she blasted him for not acting like she thought he should have. In fact, 2 Samuel 6:16 says, “And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.”

Because of this she was unable to have children. We don’t know why she wasn’t able to have children, but it was either because David never slept with her again or because the Lord closed her womb.

My suspicion is that the Lord doesn’t like backbiting and criticism, so he probably closed her womb. (It’s my blog, so I’m going with this line of thought!)

The main point is this:

You can’t be productive when you’re too busy criticizing others.

Michal was busy criticizing how David was ministering before the Lord and how he was leading the people, when she should have been supporting him and being his greatest cheerleader.

If we’re not being as productive as we should be there’s a good chance we’re too distracted looking at what everyone else is doing or criticizing others.

Question: How do you avoid criticizing others like this?

 

In Devotionals, Family, Leadership, Personal Development
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4 Habits To Junk Proof Your Life

September 21, 2012 — 5 Comments

In today’s technologically driven world it is imperative to have firewalls for our personal computers. A firewall is a system in place to keep out viruses, hackers and anything potentially destructive. We go to great lengths to protect our computers, but why do we neglect to protect the most valuable thing in our lives, our hearts?

Firewall

Photo by ChrisDag

King Solomon, the wisest man in history, once said, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” (Proverbs 4:23 NLT)

Continue Reading…

In Devotionals, Family, Leadership, Personal Development
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Prayer Points: Never Give Up!

September 15, 2012 — 2 Comments

We often give up too easily, especially when God never tells us to.

Luke 1:36-37, “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

People had told Elizabeth she was barren and incapable of producing anything of significance in her life.

Notice, it was other people who “said” this about her and not God. God never told her she was barren. It was only other people in her life.

Sometimes we need to ignore what others say about us and just keep praying.

What dream have you give up on for your family? Who have you been listening to instead of listening to God’s Word for your life?

Prayer Request: What impossibility do you need God to do in your life?

 

 

In Devotionals, Family
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Children Need To Hear This Phrase Often From Their Parents

September 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

Our children need to hear our affirmation. We know they have physical needs, but we often forget their emotional needs.

proud

By Gyrtr

Even Jesus, the Son of God, needed to be affirmed and accepted by his Father.

Continue Reading…

In Devotionals, Family
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5 Reasons Why Parents Need To Date Their Children

September 5, 2012 — 4 Comments

I have a confession to make. Recently, I went on a date with someone other than my wife. The lady was beautiful, intelligent and young. In fact, she was several years younger!

ice cream

I went on a “Daddy-Daughter” date with my 7 year old. I try to do this with both of my daughters. It’s a time I set aside to spend time with them as individuals. On our dates I normally try to do something they want to do.

Continue Reading…

In Family, Leadership
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4 Key Steps To Deal With Change

March 2, 2012 — 6 Comments

We have seen a lot of changes in the past few years. Much of it has been for good but much of it has not. Our world is changing faster than we can keep up with it. Whether we like it or not our lives and society is changing faster and faster as the days go by on our calendar. We have two choices to make when dealing with change: enjoy the ride or go kicking and screaming.

I began to think about this idea recently because I went through a major change in my life. My wife and I already had two children who were ages 9 and 6 and we just added our third child. (yes, I do know what caused it!) At the time of this writing he is two months old. If you do the math that is a decent age gap between our children. Continue Reading…

In Family
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3 TIPS FOR PARENTS WHO OCCASIONALLY SCREW UP

February 28, 2012 — 2 Comments

I’ve been a parent now for several years and I’ve learned a few lessons. In fact, I’m going to share three things that I haven’t always done well. I hate to admit it but I’ve probably screwed up more times than not. I guess you can’t have it all: good looks, charm, great sense of humor and good parenting skills. Oh well, 3 out of 4 isn’t bad! Just kidding, that’s my sense of humor coming out!

There are many great parenting skills that everyone needs but lately these are the ones that I’ve been working on the most. It’s certainly not an exhaustive list but this is my blog post!

1. Be quick to apologize to your children when you blow it. As parents there are going to be times that we over react or say something that we shouldn’t. It might be that we drop the ball on something that we had promised or that we had good intentions but didn’t follow through like we should have. It’s important that you apologize to your children when you screw up. It shows them that you’re human and it models humility to them.

2. Learn to take a “chill pill.” The are some things that we get upset at now that really won’t matter in 10 years. I wonder how much energy we waste on getting upset over things that shouldn’t merit our time or emotions? The Holy Spirit told me recently to quit being so uptight about my girls cleaning up the way that I wanted them to. He quickly reminded me that it won’t matter in ten years anyway. This thought leads us to the last one.

3. Teach your children responsibility, but not perfection. I have caught myself falling into the trap of perfectionism. Recently, I got upset at my children because of the way their room was cleaned. I wanted it to be spotless or better yet perfect! Their room was cleaned like a 9 year old and 6 year old would clean it. The Lord reminded me that I wasn’t perfect either!

In any case, when I teach my children perfectionism I am setting them up for failure in their future because at some point they are going to miss the mark and crash and burn. It’s easier to teach them to be responsible adults than it is to be perfect. Jesus was perfect so I don’t have to be!

Again, these are just three that I’m working on at the moment. The good news is that by doing these I have taken some unwanted pressure off of myself and my children. Try doing these and you might be surprised as to what happens!

Do you struggle with any of these? If so, which one?

In Family
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