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Enriching your Family

The theme for 2005 is enrichment- that is enrichment of yourself and your family. Rather than concentrate on material things as we tend to do here in the United States, why don't you help make you and your family BETTER!

Sound hard? Sound weird? Well, it can pay off in big ways. Here's how- there a 2 different ways:

Enriching your life makes you a better person - making you a better person spills over into making your family better.

Enriching your family makes you a better person - making the family better spills over into making you a better person.

So . . . how do you enrich your family?

There are 3 good ways right off that can enrich your family: time together, something new and different, a family project or challenge.

	Time Together
	Something New and Different
	A Family Project or Challenge

Share new things in common. Even if some family members may not really like it, you share a common experience.

Here's an example: Recently, John took off a day from work to take the family to Chincoteague Island in Virginia. It was a long drive to and from, but we had a great time together all the way! Christina (our daughter) picked the place, Linda decided what to see first and John drove. We had a great time because all the way we were communicating with each other and pointing out new things to each other.

Why did we go? Christina wanted to see the ponies having hear stories from her mom for a number of years about them; and while John and Linda hadn't been there in 25 years, we were also curious as to what things had changed.

	Christina learned about the Chincoteague ponies and a bit of the geography of the Maryland and Virginia shores.
	Linda learned about the local birds and how close you can get to a Blue Heron.
	John learned about the lighthouse
	We all learned that River Otters (though rare there) were present and we got exclusive pictures of them!

So . . . how do you enrich yourself? There are 3 ways - physically, mentally and spiritually.

Physically

	Take a walk (literally) - it's almost as good as running but without the pounding to the knees! Try to work up to 2 miles if you can! Walk a lot at your job as well
	Work out about 30-40 minutes a day if you can.
	Watch what (and how much) you eat. Fat greasy food = Fat greasy dude.

Mentally

	Learn a new skill
	Take a college or university course

Spiritually

	Pray. Pray all the time- a meals, before bed, before heading out into traffic (a personal favorite)
	Read the Bible - a chapter a day. Start with the Gospel of Matthew and go to Jude. Then begin at Genesis and go through to the end of the Old Testament. Finish with Revelation and start the whole process over again!
	Get involved in a Bible Study at home, work or church!
	Volunteer to help the poor and needy in your local area.

Something New and Different

John took some time off from his studies and did something he hadn't done in 20 years- fly an airplane. Here, John is at the controls of a T-6 Texan, 3/4 of the way through a snap-roll at about 5,000 feet over Virginia. Accompanied by a very experienced instructor pilot, John was at the stick for well over half the flight, doing a 3-G inside loop and barrel roll solo. This flight was made possible through a company called History Flight. The company maintains and offers rides, hands-on flight (what John did) and aerial combat opportunities around the country. They were based only about 30 minutes from home so, this made for a great break in studies for a late afternoon. The aircraft also had 3 video cameras onboard allowing you views like this (inside the cockpit), or from the tail or starboard wingtip!

How this helps. It's good to get away from the stresses of work, school and even family. You can take experiences like this and share them with family to inspire them to do similar things,

This page was last updated on: 07/02/05