Beginning with the end in mind...

     This is a principle I had probably heard a thousand times but it never stuck with me until I finally chose to listen and think deeper about it during a course I took in college.  Back then, it was a marketing research principle taught at the University of Northern Iowa that emphasized keeping the focus on the need(s) of your client throughout your data collection...but enough about that!  My point here is that this principle came up again very recently during a walk talk with my wife.  

     As we were leisurely walking and talking one evening, my wife started to express her concern about finding a church and building community in our new home of Middle Tennessee.  She assured me she needed comfort, not correction as she shared her feelings of the tasks ahead.  However, I kept re-focusing on the truth yet to come: we will find a community with people who love us as we love them while doing so through a wonderful church family.  I found reassurance knowing this and even more just by saying it out loud.  The only thought left on my mind was what are we going to do about it now?
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     Working backwards from the truth or end firmly within our minds, we started thinking about past relationships and how we might move more slowly going forward.  That was just it!  Moving slowly might just allow more thorough observation and reflection of the wonderful relationships we form.  Also, it could lead to better commitments from us in our church.  Today, we are thankful we chose a more appropriate pace to empower our relationships to flourish.  We are even more grateful to this simple and easily applicable principle which provided us reassurance and a moment of clarity to focus on what we could do in our response to the inevitable truth yet to come.

Reflection Questions:
​- What worries you today?
- What is the end or inevitable truth you are facing?
- What are you going to do about it today?