Creating Your Family Vision

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

The definition for the word perish in the Websters 1828 dictionary is from per and eo, to go; literally, to depart, to die.
If you study this it has to do with going about unrestrained. Without a vision we go about unrestrained and the end result is death. You can apply this to every area of life. What is your vision and are your activities lining up to your vision?
Here is an example. We have a vision of creating a beautiful garden. Before we plant the seeds we must first locate the best ground. We then cultivate the ground and add in needed nutrients to the soil. Next we will decide what we want to grow. We will water, weed, and harvest the fruits of our labor.
Raising our children is much the same way. We must develop a vision for our family. For without it our parenting will be haphazard, leading us in many different directions not getting the results our heart longs for.
Galations 6:7 Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
When we sow our garden we KNOW what we are planting and therefore we Get what we planted. If we plant corn we will reap corn. Ect. Many parents never even consider what is being planted in the hearts and minds of their children. This reminds me of a time when I desired to plant some flowers alongside of my vegetables. I looked at the pictures of the flowers on the package and picked some I thought would look pretty. I choose morning glories. I was unaware of the characteristics that morning glories had. They are vining plants that multiply rapidly and are impossible to get rid of. One morning I went out to my garden and the whole garden was covered in beautiful flowers. It was breathtaking. But, upon closer inspection I found the flowers were entangled around my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and were chocking the very life out of the other seeds I had lovingly planted. The Lord spoke clearly to me that I needed to KNOW what I was planting. Many things we allow or even purposely plant in our children lives can and often do choke out the good fruit we have planted. We must know the end results because as Galations 6:7 states, “whatever a man sows that will he reap.” This is Gods promise to us. We sow life, we reap life. We sow peace, we reap peace. Raising children in God is not something done by chance. Gods word says in Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it. We can take God at His word.
Even years later I still have to pull out morning glory plants. How much easier it would be to have never planted them in the first place.