THE MOST IMPORTANT

I admit, I have a unique perspective on family, I won't go into the details other than to say I know family will ultimately determine a huge portion of my, and your, life trajectory. It starts when we grow up with mom and dad around, but it doesn't end simply because we move out/marry, we just change roles.

The Nucleus of your family: you, mom, dad, brothers and sisters. You're designed to be really close. You spend hours waiting on mom to get her hair ready; meanwhile, your sister pesters you because you ate the last bowl of Lucky Charms. The nucleus of the family is where your life really begins. As a father of a 15-month old I see how HUGE my role is in her life. I want her to be happy in life, so I make sure to smile as often as possible around her. Happy dad equals, happy grad.

Melinda and I want our little girl to know what it means to have an affectionate marriage, so we make sure to show affection to one another with her around, within reason of course. I want our daughter to have the drive to keep climbing even when she can't, so I don't always rescue her and give her what she wants. Sometimes her frustration because she can't climb to the top of the couch is exactly what she needs to climb to the top of the couch.

I want a worshipper in our family, and you will hear worship music on our stereos, often. I want a laughable-have-a-good-time family, and we rock out to Life is a Highway by Rascal Flats. I want a healthy family, so we walk, exercise. I want a God fearing family, so we pray together, read the bible and study.

I want a daughter who loves church, so I make sure we are not only at church, but doing church right along side the leaders. I want a daughter who has a great attitude, so I don't have nanny's and babysitters with bad attitudes.

I am a part of a nucleus, my family. Melinda, myself and Seven will determine the course of our lives more than anyone else, so we take good care to make sure we are headed in the right direction. Before us three, it was my parents, me and my sister, our nucleus.

At the end of my life if I've built a great church, everybody loves me, but my nucleus is missing the key ingredients, then I've failed. If you've built a great company, but your nucleus is distorted what have you really gained? I say, take care of the nucleus part of your family.

If the nucleus of your family is healthy than the rest of the "cell" will be healthy also. Parents, grandparents, uncle, aunts, cousins, nephew, nieces, and all the rest that make up the components of your family will flourish.

So make your "nucleus" the most important part of everyday.