Happy Wednesday, my friends! If you haven’t gotten the start to the week that you hoped for, remember God makes all things new. Let’s go.
These “4 the Fam” midweek emails will be short, reflective, & actionable — structured to encourage you to press on to the end of the week, specifically in the leadership of your family.
1 Principle
In the book The E-Myth, the author makes a simple but profound distinction:
Most leaders are overwhelmed because they spend all their time working IN the business…and almost no time working ON the business.
Can the same be said about your family life lately?
Working IN = focused on the day-to-day operations
(e.g. the never-ending cycle of tasks: meals, messes, meltdowns, carpools, conflict, bedtime routines, repeating yourself 100 times before 7:30am.)
Working ON = focused on long-term direction, strategy, growth
(e.g. stepping back, thinking longer, designing rhythms, shaping culture, clarifying values, building systems.)
Now, there’s obviously an ebb and flow between the two. “Working IN” for too long and we get burned out. “Working ON” for too long and our schedules and spaces become chaotic.
But typically for most of us, we are so far deep in the day-to-day operations that we can’t see a way out.
We can’t imagine coming up out of the daily grind long enough to assess where we’re at, where we’re going, and how we’ll get there.
But maybe it’s time for you to step out of reacting and into building — out of short-term firefighting and into big picture architecting.
Healthy, present families are not an accident. They are built on purpose.
1 Practice
Expand your “internal parenting horizon”.
This week, when something frustrating happens, pause and ask:
Is this an immediate problem I need to alleviate…or a pattern I need to reshape?
1 Prompt
What changes when I remember I’m not just raising kids for today, but also forming adults for tomorrow?
1 Passage
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” — Colossians 3:2
Turn this into a prayer for your family leadership this week:
Father — lift our minds above the tyranny of the urgent. Teach us to think longer and deeper; to see our kids not just as they are, but as You are shaping them to be. Give us patience for the process, and wisdom for the bigger picture that You’re creating in our home. Amen.
By the way…
If you want to sign up for the “7-Day Family Reset”, you can do that here!
It’s a free email course that walks you through simplifying 1 area of your family life each day for 1 week.
So far, I’ve had a few hundred people sign up and go through it — with so much encouraging feedback that it has helped alleviate pressure in some important life areas.
I’m having fun beta-testing these short, actionable midweek “4 the Fam” emails.
If any insight or idea in this email was helpful for you, will you forward it to your spouse or a friend?
I’d love if you also replied here and let me know that you liked it!
Love to you all. 🤟🏻
