A Family Vision

Where there is no vision the people perish... Proverbs 29:18a

If a group of people can perish without a vision for the future, so to can a family. God prompted our hearts a couple of years ago to pray about and discuss a vision for our family. We had always had certain dreams for the future, but a family vision seemed to give us a road map to follow.

Here are some of the visions we have for our family:

1. We believe we have been called by God to educate our children in the home.

2. We desire to move to a home with several acres of land, so that we are more able to grow and produce our own food.

3. We want Chris to be able to work form home with the family.

4. We desire to raise our children so that we convey to them that their chief purpose in life is to glorify God by living a life of obedience, holiness and conformity to God's perfect plan .

Now having these visions clearly outlined helps us make decisions from day to day. When we are faced with a choice we have some guidelines to help us answer these questions. For example, when we are asked by people if Bo is going to pre-school or isn't he almost old enough to go to school? We can confidently answer no we have chosen to homeschool. Now, I would leave it at that with most people, but if questions persist, I can say with confidence that sending him to public school or pre-school does not fit into the plan we have for our family.

Chris recently had the opportunity to go on an alternate schedule at work. It was a hard decision, but ultimately, more time at home seemed to win out. This decision fit perfectly with the third vision for our family which is Chris being able to work at home. It is not fulfilling this vision, but it is a step closer.

Lastly, we made the decision to not have a television in our home (only for a few pre-selected movies). This fits in well with the fourth vision for our family. Television seems to be one of the biggest time wasters in most homes. Before we got rid of our television, we would sit in front of it for 3-4 hours per night. Let's see 3-4 hours of the worlds standards being pumped into our homes or 3-4 hours spent with our children playing, having family worship and reading. There really is no comparison. Television would have stood in the way of our fourth vision. If we were constantly watching shows that glorify sin, make jokes of God's perfect plan for man and woman and advertisements that develop a must-have attitude we really would not be instilling in our children a healthy respect for obedience to God, a realization that life is about holiness not happiness and an understanding that God's plan is perfect, not the worlds.

So having a vision based on the Word of God really helps guide our daily decisions. If a decision comes up all we have to do is search God's Word, pray and consult the list of visions God has given for our family.

Still Learning...

Holli