(Chapter 4) Applying Vision - Hans

Short post today, but I wanted to reflect on chapter four titled "Should've seen that coming." This chapter references Proverbs 27:12 which says,

"The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it."

Andy Stanley describes two situations about looking ahead, the guy who bought the billboard in the middle of the forest and the skipper who knew his weather report. These two accounts are on pages 49-53 in the text.

I'm guessing that I related so well to this chapter because I know I don't do well looking ahead. Honestly speaking Katie is the better visionary for our family. She looks months ahead and starts planning for things with effortless attention to detail.

But I find it interesting how God puts together a series of events to teach you lessons. I haven't picked up the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People lately, but it is a really good read. The last time I was reading it we were learning about planning ahead. Covey recommends planning a week and a month in advance. Most people just plan day-to-day. Do you already do this? Well it was new to me but it became a discipline that made life easier. I'm still working on it but it makes so much sense. The skipper prepared for a 5-day journey by having weather forecasts for all five days (maybe more in case the weather moved in sooner than expected) and he acted on his reports.

What does that look like in my life? For me it's about planning events, activities, and trips for our family. If I sit back and let my weeks and months play out without planning, we won't do anything as a family. I need to constantly be planning for family, work, personal development, budget, and career direction to stay on the right path. We get so easily sidetracked if we don't regularly look at our map.