A homeschooling acquaintance of mine who goes by the online moniker “Prairie Chick” posted a story that inspired me about how to pass on and reinforce family values even among elementary school-age children (let alone older children and adults).

I saw her story on the Sonlight forums. When I asked her permission to share it here, she noted that she had also posted it on one of her blogs, The Prairie Schoolhouse. Read the rest of this entry »

Some questions for evaluating “how you’re doing” in your life and “where you’re headed.” Read the rest of this entry »

ADDENDUM as of 2/5/09: While I am still excited about the materials I discuss in this post, it is with great sadness that I feel compelled to note I have discovered there are reasons for caution with respect to the sources referenced herein. With respect to Vision Forum Ministries, I call your attention to the series of articles at Ministry Watchman and Jen’s Gems. And with respect to Geoff Botkin, see Who is Geoffrey Botkin? at the Under Much Grace blog.

[Continued discussion of Vision Forum Ministries' program titled The 200 Year Plan: A Practicum on Multi-Generational Faithfulness.]

I find it difficult to think even five years ahead. So how can I begin thinking 200 years into the future of my family? One secret: just begin! Start writing! Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of attorneys, it seems, assume what your goals are when you walk into their office to have them draft your final documents: You want them to save as many taxes as possible, and pass on as much of your estate to your children–your heirs–as possible. But, of course, your goals may go far beyond these things. And, in fact–as is the case with my wife and me–you may not wants to pass everything along to your heirs.

It’s always helpful, when you walk into your attorney’s office, if you already have your goals clearly in mind. To help clarify some of these issues for you, consider the following list. What’s on your mind, and how important are they to you? (If two of these goals compete, which one do you want to “win”?) Read the rest of this entry »

Most of the “success coaches” I’ve listened to seem to swear by the idea of writing your goals. Universally, they seem to say that merely thinking about your goals is not enough. You’ve got to write them out and, even if you don’t rewrite them every day, you need to review them every day. –Every day!

I think I’m slowly beginning to understand why they say this. Read the rest of this entry »