Raising Kids to Do Hard Things Day One

My husband and I just got back from the Raising Kids to Do Hard Things Conference in Dallas. It was a day and a half of presentations my Gregg Harris (father of Joshua, Brett, and Alex Harris). Friday evening had two sessions.

The first one was about why God commands us to do hard things. One thing that I thought was interesting in this session was his point that God has used the curses of Adam (struggle to provide) and the curse of Eve (struggle in bearing children) to bring about the good of a godly household. He also pointed out that sin is a problem of not really believing that God is good and wise and that his ways for our lives are good (for us) and wise. He reminded us that we are here to glorify God. He went on to explain that glorifying God means putting his goodness on display.

The second session was about the seasons of life. He used Jeremiah's instructions to the Jewish exiles to show that there are for seasons of life: 1) Individual 2) Householder 3) Elder 4) City Father. He said that whatever stage you are in you should focus on that and do well at it because it prepares you for the next stage.

I really recommend signing up if Mr. Harris is doing one of these conferences in your area. The next ones are in Atlanta, DC, and Orlando. There may be more beyond that. It is definitly well worth your time.

Appleseed Project

This past weekend, my husband signed me up for the Appleseed Project. This is a rifle marksmanship program that is taught by volunteers with the Revolutionary War Veterans Association. My husband is a very good shot even at 500 yards. I on the other hand could not hit the broad side of a barn. My husband has tried to teach me, but my arms get tired before I really learn much. And I grew impatient because I wasn't able to hit the targets. I didn't really know what to expect during this weekend, but I was willing to go because I knew it would mean a lot to my husband.

I was very frustrated the first half of the first day. We were doing everything in the prone position so my arms weren't getting tired, but I couldn't align myself properly with the rifle. They gave me a loaner and that made all the difference. I started making progress right away. In the final set of targets that I did, I shot the 100 yard size silhouette 4/10 times from standing in 2 minutes. Now that might not seem great (and it isn't), but you have to take into account that I didn't hit the paper AT ALL the first time we did it. I also hit all 4 of the 400 yard size silhouettes the proper number of times in less than 5 minutes during the final round.

So if you have any interest in learning a little more about our history (during the lunch breaks) and learning to shoot a .22 rifle better, I recommend signing up for an Appleseed near you. Ladies and kids are free (though there were range fees where I was). The age of the kids allowed depends on the range rules. At our range, the kids had to be at least 12.