Summertime...a time to spend with family. We just recently returned from a vacation spent visiting family in Michigan. These times away from the workplace are always a good time to think about our past, present and future.
I have learned to constantly review the vision for our family. I repeat the vision to myself and ask myself if we are moving toward it or away. At times I must face the reality that we have begun to move away from our vision and are slipping in living out the ideal. These times can be tough to confront, since we tend to justify our "backsliding" to ourselves. It can also be tough at times to see where we are slipping...at these times, a trusted mentor or spiritual director can call out the issue and help to place us back on the right track.
This week of vacation gave me pause to think about our future and our quickly aging children. My oldest will eighteen in six short years. Years are passing like a flash. Have I given him the tools to become a saint? Have I helped form in him holy desires and a true christian manliness? Using an image from our vacation: does he have his motor revved and propelling his watercraft in a good direction, or is he just drifting according to the wind and waves?
As men of this present age, we simply don't have the ability to take a vacation from the vision for our family. When we have these brief moments of respite we should renew and rejuvenate our vision and give it more traction in our life. Don't be afraid to be a visionary father and leader!
I have learned to constantly review the vision for our family. I repeat the vision to myself and ask myself if we are moving toward it or away. At times I must face the reality that we have begun to move away from our vision and are slipping in living out the ideal. These times can be tough to confront, since we tend to justify our "backsliding" to ourselves. It can also be tough at times to see where we are slipping...at these times, a trusted mentor or spiritual director can call out the issue and help to place us back on the right track.
This week of vacation gave me pause to think about our future and our quickly aging children. My oldest will eighteen in six short years. Years are passing like a flash. Have I given him the tools to become a saint? Have I helped form in him holy desires and a true christian manliness? Using an image from our vacation: does he have his motor revved and propelling his watercraft in a good direction, or is he just drifting according to the wind and waves?
As men of this present age, we simply don't have the ability to take a vacation from the vision for our family. When we have these brief moments of respite we should renew and rejuvenate our vision and give it more traction in our life. Don't be afraid to be a visionary father and leader!
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