There are only two ways to influence human behaviour: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.
Simon Sinek
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#homesofvictory
Tag: together
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enable
Enable means to provide (someone) with adequate power, means and opportunity or authority (to do something.)
Dictionary.com
Home of Victory has been designed to enable. The platform of Homes of Victory is built from a place of encouragement and seeks to provide opportunities for families to improve things in order to live in victory.
Aside from Homes of Victory, I love to encourage. I feel like it is one of my gifts, even a talent. I love taking kind words and wrapping them up in love and giving them to someone who is unsuspecting, someone who is in need of kind words or someone who doesn’t even know they need kind words until they receive them.. I’ve always related easily to the word encourage which like enable is a verb meaning :
Encourage means to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence
Dictionary.com
Since learning more about the words and their meaning, I’ve come to realise enable and encourage are two very different things, although they work really well together, some may say in collaboration. Enable to me is the stronger more practical of the two words as the definition includes the words adequate power, means, opportunity and authority. While encourage is the quiet strong emotion, as it has the words courage, spirit and confidence in its definition. While I love to encourage, I also love to enable.
What can you do this week to not only encourage someone but enable them? Who can you build up with kind words? Who can you give adequate power to, to ensure they can use their gifts and talents to their potential? Who can you give the means and opportunity to?
It may be one of your children? It may be your other half? It may be a work mate, friend or stranger. Whoever you choose make sure you enable with purpose and enjoy the giving process. This world needs more kindness and it certainly needs more encouragement. Let’s see who we can enable this week. We can’t wait to hear your stories.
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in conversation with Ben & Christina
Who is in your family?
Benjamin (39), Christina (39), Zachary (6), Abigail (3)
Are you planners or do you go with the flow?
We are planners. Going with the flow is quite stressful for us.
What does your normal week look like?
Well before Covid-19 our normal week was very full. We both work every week day, Zach has school and Abby has day care. In addition we try to fit in extra curricular activities and Ben is at soccer training at least three nights a week.
Weekends are then full of grocery shopping, house chores,squeezing in some rest, birthday parties / socialising, church, getting ready for the week ahead and a soccer game for Ben that generally takes up a whole day.
You are now embarking on an exciting project outside of work, that takes up a lot of time, how do you make that work for yourselves and the whole family?
We are currently developing an app, which is exciting. I knew I couldn’t do it myself so I have employed the services of an app development company. Ben and I have worked through the specifications for the app after the kids have gone to bed. I am the one that has all the interaction with the software company and reads all the documentation. Then I sit down with Ben and explain it to him and get his input into the design and features. We also like to talk about it randomly while we are out and I will take notes on my phone. When we have a version to test I know Zach will be excited to participate in testing.We have made sure that this project doesn’t impact much on family life and as such we are taking it a bit slower and only doing it when we have time.
What advice would you give to a family working through the family blueprint, designing the family life you want?
Our family needs to do this too, so first step would be to recognise that you need to do this! We don’t have a blueprint written down but we do have agreement on some things that we adhere to and these have come about from good communication and purposeful planning. Things like taking regular holidays, living on a budget, keeping the kids active, involving our kids in Christian communities, ensuring our kids see us giving our time and resources to help those in need and to help the church. All these things take planning and sacrifice. Our lives are very busy so we have made some very conscious changes this year that is helping a lot:
- We employ a cleaner to free up more time to spend with the family
- We use a shared calendar on our phones to improve communication
- We employ a gardener when needed
- We have paid for a bus to take the kids to after school activities.
- We incorporate swimming lessons into the after school care session, so we are making one less trip out.
- We changed to a daycare centre closer to home, which also has extra curricular activities like swimming available.
These changes have all worked to improve the time we have together as a family and has saved us a lot of running around. Our budget hasn’t suffered either because it means I’m able to maintain my working hours.
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#homesofvictory
Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.
Warren Bennis
In our homes we are leaders whether we think we are or not. Our little ones who may not be so little any more, can’t help but see us as leaders.
What is it that you see in your future? What step, no matter how big or little can you take today to make it a reality?
May these words spark something inside of you today, that inspires you to take your dreams and vision for your family and make it a reality.
Homes of Victory 