Tag: family

Having Fun the Second Half of 2020

Has your state opened back up? I live in Michigan and there are different parts of the state that are beginning to open. I have to admit it, there is a part of me that is excited about being able to do things again, but there is also a part that is cautious about taking my children out. I think that there is a natural part of this. We’ve been quarantined for so long that just getting back to some normal things that we used to do is going to take time. 

The second half of the year is going to be interesting. What will you do? Are there events that you want to make up for? Missed birthdays, events, and get-togethers will be prevalent. It could be a rush to try and get everything in that we missed in this second half of 2020. 

  • What I Want 

How will you plan the second half of this year? For me, the biggest couple of things that I want to do with the rest of this year is to take a family vacation and then plan something for my anniversary. 

This is something that my wife and I are currently discussing. It’s a balancing act that we’re working on. There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to planning trips for the second half of the year. 

 

  • How comfortable are you?

This has to do with your comfort on a number of different levels. If you spend any amount of time on social media you will see people all over the place on coronavirus and whether or not they should wear a mask. When it comes to taking your family out and planning a vacation, you have to know what your level of comfort is. 

  • What is open in terms of what you’re trying to do

After you know how comfortable you are, you then have to know what’s open and how they are operating. For example, we were planning on having a day for our kids and taking them to a Legoland that was about an hour or so away. They had discounted tickets because they just opened back up. The problem, it’s basically reservation only now and it was going to be mid-September before we could get in. 

  • Do you have the time?

If you’ve gone back to work it can seem like everyone is going to take their vacations all at the same time. It’s a balancing act that a lot of businesses are having to do. Starting the business back, getting revenue-generating again, needing workers to use some vacation time, but also need people to work. There are a lot of aspects to business and people going back to work. 

Discussion Question:

What are you planning for the second half of the year?

It Can Be Difficult

Having difficult conversations can be challenging, especially when we’ve never had them before. We can tend to avoid situations that challenge our growth in certain areas. The parts of our lives that are hard are that way because we have developed a habit of avoidance.

The protest that have been happening around the world are showing us that we need to have difficult conversations concerning race.

As I reflect on why we’ve avoided these difficult conversations, I realized that I’ve avoided difficult conversations in my life. Trying to sidestep those conversations has caused me to become stagnant in my life. While this realization may have started because of racism, I’ve seen how I avoided difficult things throughout my life.

Continue reading “It Can Be Difficult”

See Beyond The Situation

Where do you see yourself in five years? Raise your hand if you’ve heard this in an interview before? Okay, put your hand down. Do you know why employers ask this question? It’s all about vision. When you close your eyes what do you see? Can you see your family, your job, yourself? 

While everyone is dealing with the quarantine and how to handle the day to day, have you started to think about what will come next?

Have you read the story of Joseph in the Bible? Start in Genesis 37 and just start reading. You’ll see that he had to deal with his brothers selling him into slavery, then having some success while in that situation and then being put in jail. Have you ever noticed what happened before all of that? Joseph had a set of dreams. God gave him a vision. I truly believe that this played a key in him being able to get through all of the adversity that he faced. He always was able to see the destination in the end. 

Having a vision will allow you to see past what currently is Click To Tweet

That’s the importance of vision. It allows you to see past what you are currently dealing with. So can you see past the corona-virus? What will your life look like past this? How will you kids look? What about your marriage?

Here are three reasons why you need a vision:

 

  • Vision will Keep You Encouraged

 

Let’s face it, we are going to deal with hard situations. Dealing with everything going on right now can be hard. Life in general can be hard or have difficult situations. 

You have to be able to see past the hardships. That’s what a vision will do for you. When you’re going through a hardship or a difficult situation, sometimes that’s all we can see. All we can see is the problem that we’re facing. Vision allows you to see past the hardship. 

Being able to see past the hardship will keep you encouraged. It will give you a place to hope and put your faith. Encouragement is something we all need. There’s just something about being able to imagine how different things can be on the other side of the hardship. 

 

  • Vision Gives You a Destination

 

Have you ever been driving, forgot to turn on your GPS or didn’t because you knew that you knew where you were going. You drive for a couple of minutes and then you realize that you don’t know where you’re going. But you could have sworn that you knew where you were going. Why? Because in your head you could see yourself driving the route and pulling into the destination. Eventually you will make it. 

That’s what vision will do for you. Even if you aren’t sure of how to get through a problem being able to see the destination will help you to know if you are at least going in the right direction. Being able to see the destination also lets you know when something is wrong. It lets you know what you don’t want or don’t want to go. 

 

  • Vision Brings Everyone Together

 

One of the hardest things to do is to get through a hard time by yourself. That’s how we usually approach the hard situations in our life. We think that we need to buckle down and get out of this situation by yourself. 

We all need people around us. You need a team, you need those that will encourage you, believe in you, and hold you accountable. This is where your vision will come into play. Vision is the vehicle for you and your team. It’s what will keep you connected during the hard times and it’s what you will celebrate during the victories. 

Vision is important for you and for those around you. Speak vision all the time. Especially during the difficult of hard times, you have to intentionally speak vision. 

 

Discussion Question: 

What vision do you have during this time?