Tedd Tripp goes through the most important parts of what it means to be a Christian parent. He discusses the importance of discipline and communication with your children at every level of their growth, and the most important factor of having goals for your "child rearing." Spouses need to come together discuss and pray about what their goals are for their children. Here are some common goals parents have that Tripp listed: Is it to have the most athletic kid? To have a psychologically balanced child? To have the smartest best educated kid? To have the most well behaved child? To have a "saved" child? To have control over your child?  He walks through many of these goals and helps point out the good--and also the not so good in them. Do you have goals for your children? Are they God oriented goals? or are they goals that are self serving and worldly? OH my, I'm not even there yet, but I can tell that parenting is going to be a difficult task and this book definitely made me think a lot about what some of the most important things are when raising kids. I'm so glad someone gave me this book now so I can start to think about these principles before it's too late! 
What will my goals be for raising my children? How do I shepherd my child's heart? How do I help them see the sin in their heart which leads to their actions? Who am I trying to serve? Is what I'm doing pleasing and honoring God? Those are some of the questions that I am now thinking about and most are what this book goes through--from every stage of childhood; infancy to teenage years. 

I wont go into to much more because I really think it is so crucial for every parent to read this book for themselves if they are interested in shepherding a child's heart for the Lord.  And if you never read it--at least be in search through the Bible, the most important book for life, and for raising children. I believe, if you are a parent, it is probably one of the most important roles God has called you to, you probably don't want to go into it blind or neglect what he says about it. All other books on the subject are just helpful and practical (if they come from a biblical perspective), but the Bible should always be where we start and finish. Best wishes to all you parents out there, I know we will need your prayers as we start this exciting journey and we will pray for you as well! -Britt

I love History and I love reading about Leadership. Why? I believe it the one of two most understudied and misunderstood things in our culture today--and both are major subjects lacking in our schools today. This book is an incredible example of teamwork and how people need to work together in order for their businesses, teams, organizations, or families to work together. 
I love reading about our founding fathers and Phillips goes into so many details about the coming together of our nation. If you are lacking on your history knowledge a little bit, read this, it's also an amazing "refresher" for the learned historians as well. The book most specifically focuses on George Washington (he's so cool, really....I mean the guy is incredible!), Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, of course Benjamin Franklin, and many more. It focus' on how each individual leveraged different skills in leadership to help the country go from being a a big nobody (in Great Britain's eyes) to the United States of America. Imagine trying to convince a group of "people" they should declare independence from one of the greatest super powers in the world at that time, with one of the largest armies, and with one of the most advanced navies...just to name a few things, but that is what these men and many others did. America did not start out easy, nothing great ever does. The Revolutionary War was not easy, in fact we were losing most of the time, but because men like Washington led his troops valiantly and people like Thomas Paine renewed the moral of the culture and the troops, America pulled through.Then--just when you think we're all set and on the right track-- after winning the war, they had to deal with bankruptcy, the different states each wanting to be individual and not united, a failing Articles of Confederation, a bunch of angry regiments who weren't getting paid, and many many MANY more problems. America could have easily fallen apart after the revolution if not for the courage, determination, and leadership of our founding fathers. Think we could learn a bit from these guys?? I think so. 

I know I did a horrible job of trying to explain my love of this book and the stories that are in it, but I would almost classify this as a must read for anyone seeking a position of leadership, whether that be in your family, in schools, at work, in church or through other organizations. We can't rise to a position of leadership and expect to know everything...people are well, they are people, and it takes a Leader to unite them and move them together in a common direction. This book is a great place to start! Enjoy! -Britt

Have you ever come across the story in the Bible about Benaiah? I had never recalled hearing the name before and I didn't realize that what this guy did was probably one of the most courageous acts recorded in the Old Testament. Here's the passage: "Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear." 2 Samuel 23:20-21. So thats it. No big deal right? It's just one of those passages you read and forget about not putting much emphasis on any part.  Well, Mark Batterson took hold of this small passage from scripture and created a book about overcoming risks, setting big goals, and chasing big dreams, not small ones, but "lion size" dreams. I tend to place God in a box thinking that there are some things he can do and some things he can't with my life but what this book showed me was that with God all things are possible and he WANTS them for us, more than we want them for ourselves. 

Not everyone goes looking for lions to  slay or scrounges around trying to grasp opportunities, but Benaiah did, and he was well rewarded for it (He became King David's personal Body Guard! How cool is that?!). He was a lion-chaser. Mark Batterson quickly became one of my favorite authors after reading this book, I think his style of writing is really easy for me to read, and humorous as well. It's full of biblical knowledge and shows how to apply principles from the bible to our lives. I could go on and on, but I'll just leave you with SOME of my favorite quotes from the book. (This is hard because there are soo many!) So if you end reading here, and you have a big dream, or a something thats been on the back burner for too long, read this book, and read the BIBLE, it will help you realize that there isn't time to waste putting great dreams on hold, your time is now! God Bless! -Britt

"How you think about God will determine who you become. You aren't just the byproduct of "nature" and "nurture." You are a byproduct of your God-picture. And that internal picture of God determines how you see everything else. Most of our problems are not circumstantial. Most of our problems are perceptual. Our biggest problems can be traced back to an inadequate understanding of who God is. Our problems seem really big because our God seems really small. In fact, we reduce God to the size of our biggest problem."

"Why is it that the church is known for what we're against that what we're for? Why does it seem like the church is always in a defensive posture? Maybe it's time for Christ followers to put on crash helmets and play offense." 

"Lion chasers don't retreat. They attack. Lion chasers aren't reactors, they are creators. Lion chasers refuse to live their lives in a defensive posture. They are actively looking for ways to make a difference."

"We need to stop criticizing culture and start creating it."

"Part of spiritual maturity is caring less and less about what people think about you and more and more about what God thinks about you"

"We should stop asking God to get us out of difficult circumstances and start asking Him what He wants us to get out of those difficult circumstances."

"Worship is forgetting about what's wrong with you and remembering what's right with God."

"Faith is risky business...Maybe risk taking is at the heart of righteousness. Maybe righteousness has less to do with not doing anything wrong and more to do with doing things right. Righteousness is using our God-given gifts to their God-given potential. and that requires risk. Maybe our view of sanctification is too sanitized. Maybe our view of Christianity is too civilized. Maybe we need to reconsider what made our spiritual ancestors heroic."

I'll end with a quote that he quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, " Hell begins the day God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do."

This book was recommended to me by a group of highly successful entrepreneurs from the Team. All the books they have recommended have helped me, I hope they can help you out as well. What is the Entrepreneurial Myth? 
It is the assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of industry can successfully run a business that does that technical work. This is the reason Michael Gerber gives for the high failure rate of small businesses. 
The beginning of the book talks about the reality in business; that most small businesses are not started by entrepreneurs, but rather by people that just want to do their profession without having a boss. These people lack, as Gerber puts it, the "Entrepreneurial Perspective." That is, it's not the commodity or work itself that is important. What's important is the business; how it looks, acts, and does what it is intended to do. 
The book goes on to describe the Turn-Key Revolution. This is based on franchising models of having a systematic way of running the business. Gerber encourages people to work on their business, not just in their business. This section of the book is really helpful for anyone with a small business. The author describes in detail how to go about working on your business to be able to make it run smoothly, even when you are not there. 
In the last chapters of the book there is a section on marketing and sales that is very eye opening and thought provoking. I would recommend anyone in business or sales should read this section in particular. This book really challenges your thinking about how to make a business successful. I really recommend the entire book for for anyone in business or thinking about owning a business. -Paul

Are you a great thinker? Do you have scattered thinking like I do, or do you just not do much thinking for yourself? It's interesting to actually look back on a day or week and see how little thinking I actually did, especially intentionally. This book is a great interactive study on thinking. 

One thing that hit me at the beginning of the book was not even that I don't think but that I don't do enough thinking about things that will make progress, as Maxwell said  "successful people focus their thinking on progress while unsuccessful people focus their thinking on survival or at best maintenance." Another quote I really liked of his was, "If you want to live on a new level, you need to think on a new level." How often do we strive to get better and move up to the next level in anything, but yet not have a care about moving our thinking to that level? 

Something that I agree with Maxwell on is the importance of having special places to go off by yourself do think, reflect and meditate, without distractions. I find for myself that early in the morning in my office or in the summer out on a deck or by a lake I seem to think the most clearly. I challenge you to find your "thinking spot" and certain time of day that you can set aside to think. What do you think about? Well here are the 11 Thinking Skills Maxwell goes through in the book.

1. Big Picture Thinking
2. Focused Thinking
3. Creative Thinking
4. Realistic Thinking
5. Strategic Thinking 
6. Possibility Thinking
7. Reflective Thinking
8. Questioning Acceptance of Popular Thinking
9. Shared Thinking
10. Unselfish Thinking
11. Bottom-Line Thinking

To learn more about the thinking skills I listed, I would recommend that you read the book. I know that understanding these skills has helped me bring my scattered thinking into focus a little bit more. I hope that this book can help you be more intentional about your thinking, or at least get you to think! -Paul

Not, going to lie, this book took me FOREVER to read. NOT because it was boring, I think I just needed to take the time to go through it so that everything would digest properly!! There was so many good nuggets in this book, I wish I could go through them all, (So that I can remind myself what I read!!!) but I won't, you really will just have to read this book. Another awesome part about this book was that in about EVERY paragraph there was a reference to scripture. I never knew there was so many passages that related to our words and how we treat others. 
Are you like me, do you find yourself rambling on with words in a conversation and then all of the sudden, you find yourself bitting your tongue, praying that what you just said, you really didn't say? Are you sometimes prone to gossip? To lie? To exaggerate? to murmur? to anger?  to boast? to flatter? to swear? to be sarcastic? As this book says, our culture, especially Christians need a transformation of our tongue! Stowell says that it should be a top priority for those committed to spiritual growth. WOW, really? I honestly never really thought about things I say having an effect on my relationship with God, let alone my spiritual growth. But it truly does. Like Jesus said in Matthew 15 :17-19, "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of  a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts--murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person." If I am to have the Holy Spirit living in my heart, yet I have these things that defile me coming out of it, then do I truly have the Holy Sprit within me? (just a question to think on) Now, I understand no one is perfect, but I can't stop thinking of how much the things I do reflect upon my relationship with God and how in tune I am with the Holy Spirit. I know that I have the Holy Spirit within me, yet sometimes I feel I place him in a jar, screw the lid on top really tight so I can "say my few words" and in doing so I'm refusing to let Christ do his full work in me. Are my words, attitudes, actions always a reflection of the Holy Sprit in my heart? (I'll answer that for myself....no, they aren't)  Anyway, I just babbled on again, sorry, it's just a really great book that made me think a lot about the life I live, and the life I should be living. Feel free to comment or question what I just wrote, especially if you've read the book, I love to hear other's thoughts.  I'll post a few quotes from the book below just to spark your interest...Enjoy! 

--We tend to tolerate a bit of "fire" in our speech, thinking it can do no harm. But fire spreads quickly--often before we realize it. And after a raging fire has done it's damage, it doesn't matter whether or not it was intentional. (p.18)

--We need to pray for wisdom in our speech (James 1:5). We should train ourselves to search for the truth in every situation. (p.32)

--Rumors, whether true or false, are devastating for many reasons--one being that they are irretrievable. I recall the story of a young man during the middle ages who went to a monk and said, "I've sinned by telling slanderous tales about someone. What should I do?" The monk replied, "put a feather on every doorstep in town." The young man did just that. He then returned to the monk, wondering if there was anything else he should do. "Go back and pick up all those feathers," the monk told him. The young man replied excitedly, "Thats impossible! By now the wind will have blown them all over town!" Said the monk, "So have your slanderous words become impossible to retrieve."  (p.36)

--Galatians 5:13-15 "You were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another"

--Exaggeration erodes trust and credibility, two building blocks of successful relationships. It is a violation of God's will for us. (p. 55)

--Perhaps that the root of our problem [taking the Lord's name in vain]--we don't appreciate the real value of God's name. too often we interpret God from our limited point of view instead of conforming our thoughts to who God says He is. Our shortsighted perceptions of God insult Him by attempting to bring Him down to our level. the result is distorted thinking and idolatry. (p.68)

--(I'll end it here I promise!) All talk is really heart talk. Granted some people's spoken thoughts never seem to reach down to the heart (or up to the brain for that matter). But even empty flattery, thoughtless comments, automatic responses and mindless greetings are reflections of an insincere heart. Christ recognized that all talk is heart talk He said: Either make the tree good its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give and accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. (Matthew 12:33-37) (p.77)

Betcha didn't think you'd be reading most of the book! LOL, sorry, but there was so many more verses, many more quotes that were so meaningful and helpful to myself, please read it for yourself, then tell me what you thought! Love to you all! Britt

This is a great story that anyone with a big dream will be able to relate with. I will not give the story away but if you are pursuing a dream or would like to pursue a dream of yours, then this book is for you! This quick read will help you understand the ups and downs of pursuing a dream, and how you can grow through it. 

One thing that I learned from this book is that no matter how big my dream seems to me, God is so much bigger and so much greater. He is the one who put this dream in my heart but if I try to accomplish it without him the dream will probably die or not have a very big impact. The reason that God gives people such great dreams that are so much bigger than themselves is because he wants to use that to show His power and greatness, and so that He will be glorified and praised. If we try to accomplish a dream for self praise then we take that praise away from God.  So be in prayer about how God will use you to accomplish such great things, but do it with your eyes on God, not on yourself.

God Bless,

Paul

This is a great book that gives explains the theory side of leadership in easy to understand concepts while also showing how those theories have been put into action by people in real situations throughout history. I will just hit on the two concepts that struck me the most.

Three traits that someone needs to enter into leadership: 
Hunger: Must have a willingness and eagerness to learn and grow
Honeable: Must be willing to be taught and seek counsel from those that have results
Honorable: Must maintain and grow good character, have things in the right prespective, and have an attitude to serve not to be served.



And then there are the three qualities to measure ones leadership ability:
Character: The more trustworthy and the more courage to do what is right, one possess the higher their level of leadership.
Task: Based on ability in their field, how hard they work, how smart they are about how they work, and are they willing to do any task, no matter how small.
Relationships: Based on how good they are at building and maintaining strong relationships, how good they are at resolving issues in relationships.

I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to lead in any field of life. Just going into detail on the two concepts I wrote about will change how one looks at leadership, and makes it well worth the read. -Paul

This book was an interesting read. Throughout many parts of the book I rolled my eyes or thought of certain pages as fluff. In spite of this, I still did pick up a few good nuggets. Here are some of the things I thought would be worth sharing.

1.       The importance of a holistic approach to self-improvement: Physical, Mental, Spiritual, Relational

2.       Take time every day to be by yourself. Reflect on the day past to see what could be improved on, focus on the present and prioritize the tasks before you, and game plan and set goals for your future.

3.       When someone pays you a sincere compliment simply say “Thank you”, don’t belittle yourself if you feel uncomfortable and don’t blab how great you are either.

4.       Don’t compare yourself with others. Compare yourself with who you are in the present versus who you want to be in the future. Then figure out a way to grow to become that person.

5.       When winning individuals encounter fear, they admit it and go on despite of it.

6.       Scientists agree that the human nervous system cannot tell the difference between an actual experience and an experience imagined vividly, emotionally and in detail.

Chapter 7 is a good chapter to read for anyone that wants more details on goal setting. Also there is a good section about how our subconscious minds work, and how to use that in a way to grow yourself. This is not a book that I would say is a must read, although, I hope the nuggets that I did end up getting out of it will help you.

-Paul W.

Hello All! Brittany here again, last update was by Paul, just wanting to write an update a book I finished! (woo hoo!)This book is one of the top 5 books from the Team system, so it obviously comes very highly recommended, however
I also HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone and maybe after reading this little blog you will become interested and will read it yourself! I may go into some detail here (mainly for my own purposes of remembering what I read...just warning you) First off, in any personality description system thingy...people usually are classified into 4 main different personalities. Yes, I realize as does the author that you aren't just 1 temperament, you may be a mixture of 2 or 3 or maybe you have parts of all. However, usually there is one dominant personality that represent you. I will try and help you find your personality type below, in a very easy classification....