Hi dear friends,
Where do I begin? Writing my first entry on our blog about MOTIVE, and why it matters to me…
"Rrrraanndad!!!!" That is the exclamation that shreeks from my 2 year old white (motivated by peace) granddaughter Addy, the moment her eyes get fixed on me. So that is my new name, Randad!
My four year old granddaughter Ari, who I am becoming quite sure is a blue (motivated by intimacy, an emotional connection of the heart), knows my real name, but shouts it with the same flair and enthusiasm…Grandad!
I am a yellow, motivated by fun. But for all my life, the fun I sought, was fun that was all about me. Fun, as I define it…on my terms…my time frame. So giving attention to my own children as they grew up had to fit in sometime between work at my business, followed by the evening news, then Bill O’Reilly, or whatever else I wanted to do. Motive training is teaching me to destroy, bit by bit, the number one enemy of relationships…SELFISHNESS. I suppose I will spend the rest of my life in this battle, but I am winning in life more than I used to. Remember the game of life is like scoring runs in baseball. (Playing Life to Win-Dr. Taylor Hartman, soon to be released!) 1st Base-Get Yourself, 2nd Base-Get Truth, 3rd Base-Get over yourself, Home Plate-Get others.
What this looks like with my granddaughters is something like this:
Ari- “Grandad, want to go play school and I’ll be the teacher?”
Me- (I’m watching Hannity and Combs…and it is a very interesting interview about the race for the presidency) “Sure! Let’s go!”
Or, it may look like this, as it did two nights ago:
I am going to feed the dogs…for me, a chance to escape for a few moments by myself, which I enjoy. Instead…to my granddaughters I say;
Me- “Wanna go with me to feed the doggies?”
Ari and Addy- “Yeah!!!”
I let them scoop the food into the bowls. Evidently, this is a task of monumental importance, because I watch as they do it with such seriousness and a feeling of great accomplishment. Then the thought crosses my mind…
Me- “Wanna go for a night-time tractor ride?”
Ari and Addy-“Yeah!!!”
They hop onto my lap, each one squeezing one of Randad’s arms, as I fire up the old green John Deere, turn on the lights, and the three of us begin our adventure into the back yard with Cheyenne (my German Shepherd) and Nugget (my dear blue mut) close by our side…anxiously waiting for the bugs that will fly into the air, be illuminated by the lights of the tractor and try with all their might to escape the snapping jaws of playful dogs. Our adventure takes us amidst the old pine trees where Ari beckons me to let her pick off a pine cone. And then begins the endless questions and answers about what a pine cone is, what it is for, and how a big beautiful pine tree grows to be in the first place. We stop, in the dark...turn off the old engine and look up into the star filled sky. "Rrandad, da Moooon!" Addy announces. "God made The Moon, Grandad", Ari says, as she replays for me her lessons from Sunday School. "Wooowww! He is sooooooo smart"! I reply.
After a few more laps around the house, at their request, I let Ari turn the key of the old tractor to off. "Well girls, that sure was fun". "Yeah, Rrandad, daasfun"!, Addy says as she makes her way from the high altitude of my lap to the safety of solid ground.
In 9 days the game of life will continue, but with different players. It will be Buddy, Bubba, and Buster (Nate, Eli, and Sam), my grandsons! They are coming all the way from Brownsville Texas. Most people think they are coming for a vacation with their Mom, my beautiful blue Emily, but God, and I know the truth. They are coming for a nightime tractor ride with Grandadad. (That is my name, given by Nate, when he was 2.)
Know why I love The Color Code and why motive matters to me? Because it has helped me to learn how to CREATE a relationship with my grandchildren. They LOVE Rrandad and Grandadad! That’s me! And I am learning how to love them, by making my life about them.
In the game of life, I have scored a run! I have crossed home plate for the team.
Life…it is all about relationships!
Where do I begin? Writing my first entry on our blog about MOTIVE, and why it matters to me…
"Rrrraanndad!!!!" That is the exclamation that shreeks from my 2 year old white (motivated by peace) granddaughter Addy, the moment her eyes get fixed on me. So that is my new name, Randad!
My four year old granddaughter Ari, who I am becoming quite sure is a blue (motivated by intimacy, an emotional connection of the heart), knows my real name, but shouts it with the same flair and enthusiasm…Grandad!
I am a yellow, motivated by fun. But for all my life, the fun I sought, was fun that was all about me. Fun, as I define it…on my terms…my time frame. So giving attention to my own children as they grew up had to fit in sometime between work at my business, followed by the evening news, then Bill O’Reilly, or whatever else I wanted to do. Motive training is teaching me to destroy, bit by bit, the number one enemy of relationships…SELFISHNESS. I suppose I will spend the rest of my life in this battle, but I am winning in life more than I used to. Remember the game of life is like scoring runs in baseball. (Playing Life to Win-Dr. Taylor Hartman, soon to be released!) 1st Base-Get Yourself, 2nd Base-Get Truth, 3rd Base-Get over yourself, Home Plate-Get others.
What this looks like with my granddaughters is something like this:
Ari- “Grandad, want to go play school and I’ll be the teacher?”
Me- (I’m watching Hannity and Combs…and it is a very interesting interview about the race for the presidency) “Sure! Let’s go!”
Or, it may look like this, as it did two nights ago:
I am going to feed the dogs…for me, a chance to escape for a few moments by myself, which I enjoy. Instead…to my granddaughters I say;
Me- “Wanna go with me to feed the doggies?”
Ari and Addy- “Yeah!!!”
I let them scoop the food into the bowls. Evidently, this is a task of monumental importance, because I watch as they do it with such seriousness and a feeling of great accomplishment. Then the thought crosses my mind…
Me- “Wanna go for a night-time tractor ride?”
Ari and Addy-“Yeah!!!”
They hop onto my lap, each one squeezing one of Randad’s arms, as I fire up the old green John Deere, turn on the lights, and the three of us begin our adventure into the back yard with Cheyenne (my German Shepherd) and Nugget (my dear blue mut) close by our side…anxiously waiting for the bugs that will fly into the air, be illuminated by the lights of the tractor and try with all their might to escape the snapping jaws of playful dogs. Our adventure takes us amidst the old pine trees where Ari beckons me to let her pick off a pine cone. And then begins the endless questions and answers about what a pine cone is, what it is for, and how a big beautiful pine tree grows to be in the first place. We stop, in the dark...turn off the old engine and look up into the star filled sky. "Rrandad, da Moooon!" Addy announces. "God made The Moon, Grandad", Ari says, as she replays for me her lessons from Sunday School. "Wooowww! He is sooooooo smart"! I reply.
After a few more laps around the house, at their request, I let Ari turn the key of the old tractor to off. "Well girls, that sure was fun". "Yeah, Rrandad, daasfun"!, Addy says as she makes her way from the high altitude of my lap to the safety of solid ground.
In 9 days the game of life will continue, but with different players. It will be Buddy, Bubba, and Buster (Nate, Eli, and Sam), my grandsons! They are coming all the way from Brownsville Texas. Most people think they are coming for a vacation with their Mom, my beautiful blue Emily, but God, and I know the truth. They are coming for a nightime tractor ride with Grandadad. (That is my name, given by Nate, when he was 2.)
Know why I love The Color Code and why motive matters to me? Because it has helped me to learn how to CREATE a relationship with my grandchildren. They LOVE Rrandad and Grandadad! That’s me! And I am learning how to love them, by making my life about them.
In the game of life, I have scored a run! I have crossed home plate for the team.
Life…it is all about relationships!
1 comment:
Beautifully said! Thank the Lord for Color Code! Love you both!
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