Questions for me as a father Where am I taking this family? Where should I be taking this family? What changes can I make in my life to help us get where we should be going? What is my goal as a Christian? What is my goal as a husband? What is my goal as a father? What is my goal in my occupation? What is my #1 priority? What are my goals physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, spiritually, financially, recreationally, etc. What am I doing to accomplish these goals? What am I doing that hinders me from meeting these goals? What passions and appetites do I need to encourage in my life? What passions and appetites do I need to starve? Where will I draw the lines that I will not cross? What do I want my wife to do as a helpmeet, wife, mother? What do I want for each son as a son, brother? What do I want for each son's future? What do I want for each daughter as a daughter, sister? What do I want for each daughter's future? What is my vision for this family? Questions for the wife / mother This may seem like an overwhelming amount of information and questions to process, but we need to know what our fundamental purpose as a family is and what things are beneficial and what things are not. I know that we have talked about some of these things before, but I want to get it all down together and have a vision and set of goals to help make that vision a reality. I know that we have been doing some good things, and that we have been doing even better since we made changes in many areas, but I believe we can be a truly exceptional family, not just better than average. It has been said that "the enemy of the best is not the worst, but the enemy of the best is the good enough or the better than most" (taken from a quote by Voltaire). I believe that is true and I refuse to settle for above average. Are you ready to help meet the aspirations God has for our family as my helpmeet? I can't do it alone. If we have the same goals and vision for our family and agreement on what each person's role in the family is we will be a much more successful team. I am examining many of these same questions or a variation of them as well. We really have grown a lot together, but I think we are just getting started. We got off to a kind of slow start in several areas, so we need to play catch up some. Most of these things you probably have thought about in general terms, but I want us to get specific. I know that you get frustrated sometimes because we make plans, especially financially and physically, and then don't follow through. As I think particularly about the financial goals we have made in the past I know that even though we have not always reached what we aspired to, we would not have come as far as we have without those goals. We would still be in debt wallowing like every one else. We may not hit the target every time, but at least we are shooting in the right direction. Where is this family going? Where should the family be going? How can we get where we should be? What should our # 1 priority be? What are we doing now that will help us get where we are going? What are we doing that is not helping us get there? What course corrections need to be made? What do I need to do to help make those corrections? What do you need to do to help make those corrections? What can I do to better provide for you physically? What can I do to better provide for you mentally? What can I do to better provide for you emotionally? What can I do to better provide for you socially? What can I do to better provide for you spiritually? What can I do to better provide for you financially? What can I do to better provide for you sexually? What can I do to better provide for you romantically? What can I do to better provide for you recreationally? What can I do to better provide for you educationally? What can I do to better protect you physically? mentally? emotionally? socially? spiritually? financially? recreationally? educationally? What can I do to better propel (lead) the family? physically? mentally? emotionally? socially? spiritually? financially? recreationally? educationally? What can I do to be a better example to the family? physically? mentally? emotionally? socially? spiritually? financially? recreationally? educationally? What is your goal as a Christian? What is your goal as a wife? What is your goal as a mother? What is your goal as a teacher, minister to others, evangelist? What is your goal in any occupation outside the home? What is your #1 priority? What are your goals physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, spiritually, financially, recreationally, etc.? What are you doing to accomplish these goals? What are you doing that hinders you from meeting these goals? What passions and appetites do you need to encourage in your life? What passions and appetites do you need to starve? What do you want for each son as a son, brother? What do you want for each son's future? What do you want for each daughter as a daughter, sister? What do you want for each daughter's future? What is your vision for this family? What other questions do you think we should be asking of ourselves, each other, and the children? Questions for each son How can I be a better dad? How can I be a better example to you? What things do I do that make you want to be like me? What things do I do that make you not want to be like me? What things does mommy do that makes you want to be like her? What things does mommy do that makes you not want to be like her? What things does each sister do that makes you want to be like her? What things does each sister do that makes you not want to be like her? What things does each brother do that makes you want to be like him? What things does each brother do that makes you not want to be like him? What things do you do that keep you from thinking about and doing what God wants you to think about and do? What changes can you make that will help you think about and do what God wants you to? What can you do to be a better son? What can you do to be a better brother? Questions for each daughter How can I be a better dad? How can I be a better example to you? What things do I do that make you want to be like me? What things do I do that make you not want to be like me? What things does mommy do that makes you want to be like her? What things does mommy do that makes you not want to be like her? What things does each brother do that makes you want to be like him? What things does each brother do that makes you not want to be like him? What things does each sister do that makes you want to be like her? What things does each sister do that makes you not want to be like her? What things do you do that keep you from thinking about and doing what God wants you to think about and do? What changes can you make that will help you think about and do what God wants you to? What can you do to be a better daughter? What can you do to be a better sister?