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Mark Eastman

What in the World is Contractor Etiquette?

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…And What Does Etiquette Even Mean?

It means treating others the way you want to be treated.

I had a conversation with a friend once about an experience they had with a plumber. While they were standing in the kitchen talking about the project…

The plumber spit tobacco juice in the kitchen sink.

Not once mind you, but 3-4 times! At least he had the courtesy to turn the water on and rinse out the sink.

I wonder if his wife let’s him spit tobacco juice in the sink at home.

While I was talking with this friend, I thought out loud, ‘What has happened to contractor etiquette?’ The more I’ve thought about it, more examples of this kind of ‘bad contractor behavior’ have come to mind.

Contractors may be reverting to barbarians.

The word etiquette often brings to mind high-society, pinky-out, knowing-which-fork-to-use, thoughts. Things that the ‘common man’ knows little about and may try to avoid.

However, etiquette is much more than a snooty, better than others attitude.

One definition of etiquette is – The code of ethical behavior regarding professional practice or action among the members of a profession in their dealings with each other and customers.

So, what exactly is etiquette in real life, everyday terms?

In an article by Robin Bickerstaff, “Etiquette includes having a strong moral code of conduct. The basics include allowing personal space, following the Golden Rule (treat others as you wish to be treated), obeying the 10 Commandments, and respect for elders.” This sounds simple enough.

We are aware of the Golden Rule. The principle of “Do to others what you would want them to do to you,” taught by Jesus. Most of us were taught this simple principle as kids…what happened?

I think much of the problem is a self-centered, socially disconnected, lack of human respect. Either we have never had or have forgotten any code of moral conduct.

We tend to put our own wants ahead of others.

Once during a children’s message at church, I was reminded of the Golden Rules for Living. These are things that I was taught as a kid.

When thinking through the list, I realized that these rules need to be implemented by construction companies.

If so, there would be less spitting of tobacco juice in customer’s sinks.

Golden Rules for Living

  1. If you open it, close it.
  2. If you turn it on, turn it off.
  3. If you unlock it, lock it up.
  4. If you break it, admit it.
  5. If you can’t fix it, call in someone who can.
  6. If you borrow it, return it.
  7. If you value it, take care of it.
  8. If you make a mess, clean it up.
  9. If you move it, put it back.
  10. If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.
  11. If you don’t know how to operate it, leave it alone.
  12. If it’s none of your business, stay out of it.
  13. If it will brighten someone’s day, say it.
  14. If it will tarnish someone’s reputation, keep it to yourself.

Not everybody’s moral code is going to be identical. We are all different, which means our ethical behaviors will be different. The problem is most professionals (especially in the building industry), learned their trade, but not how to operate a business.

Operating a construction business includes proper contractor etiquette.

This is a revision of a previous post titled What in The World Does Etiquette Mean Anyway?

Being on the Winning Team

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It’s Nice When Our Team Wins

The 2024 Summer Olympics are just around the corner. The Olympics are a sports fan’s dream come true. There are all kinds of different sports to watch. You can root for your favorite team and/or individual as the competition proceeds.

We like it when our team wins. Not so much when they lose.

I grew up playing basketball on our church’s league team. I watched sports, went to games, and enjoyed it.

Then, somewhere along the way, I would find myself getting upset when the team I was rooting for lost. It would affect how I acted and treated others.

This is when I began watching motor sports and became a big NASCAR fan. I’ve thought about this over the years, trying to figure out why I didn’t get as upset watching racing as I did when I was watching other sports.

The conclusion I came to was that even if the driver I’m cheering for doesn’t win, I still find things that I can celebrate.

For example, in this past week’s race, the driver I wanted to win didn’t…he finished second in a field of thirty-seven. Not bad. He also finished first in stage two and got stage points. That’s good.

Even though the driver that won the race wasn’t my first pick, I like him as a driver. And his dad used to be one of my favorite drivers. That’s good.

Then my favorite team also had a good day, with three of their four cars finishing in the top twelve. One finished twenty-seventh with a blown motor, but even with the motor expiring, there were ten cars that finished after him.

So, what does it mean to be on the winning team?

This answer is going to be different for everyone.

Psalms 1 and 2 are the introduction to the rest of the book. Last week, we talked about how Psalm 1 shows us that we have a choice. We can choose good, or we can choose evil.

This week in Psalm 2, we see an illustration of what good and evil look like and what the rules are.

Just like there are rules in sports, there are rules in life.

Much of the time people see these rules as restrictive, like being chained down. A lot of people see budgeting the same way. They feel like it limits what they can do.

With both rules and budgeting we are given a clear direction of what we can expect and what’s expected of us.

In Psalm 2, it’s evident which team—between good and evil—is going to win.

Unlike sports, in life, we get to choose which team we’re going to be on.

Winning is something that we strive for naturally. We want to be on the winning side.

This reminds me of something that was said in Andy Andrew’s book, The Traveler’s Gift. In chapter eight, David Ponder meets Abraham Lincoln.

They’re talking about the Civil War and who’s going to win. David askes the President, “Do you believe that God is on your side?”

Then after a little discussion the President answers,

“So your question was, ‘Do I believe that God is on our side?’ To be quite honest, I haven’t given that question very much attention. I am much more concerned with whether we are on God’s side.”

Andrews, Andy. The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success (p. 128).
Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Choose the right team and be on God’s side.

Now What Am I Going To Do?

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The Bottom of the Rut is Gone

It’s been a tough few weeks. With the truck transmission needing to be replaced and the customer shorting Gene $1000 dollars for the garage windows, Gene has felt like he’s stuck in the bottom of a muddy rut.

Even with all the problems, Gene has had a lot of work to do for his first year of self-employment.

Some of the projects have been very profitable.

Having a lot of construction projects is rewarding. It’s also one of the reasons he’s struggling to get proposals done and keep up with the paperwork.

To add to the busy, it’s time to get the tax paperwork gathered up. Gene needs to get it to the accountant so income taxes can be prepared. One more thing on the to do list that needs done. He’ll work on that next week after he gets this project that they’re working on finished.

After a couple weeks of late nights, Gene has the tax paperwork ready to take to the accountant. Another thing checked off the list.

On Monday, Gene starts the crew removing the kitchen countertops and cabinets for the current project. Once things are underway, Gene takes the paperwork to his accountant.

They look through the paperwork. As the accountant goes through the stack of papers he asks Gene a few questions.

There are a couple of things that he still needs.

Gene tells the accountant that he’ll get those to him later this week. The accountant says he will let Gene know if he needs anything else or has questions.

A few weeks later, Gene gets a call from his accountant that his income taxes are ready to be picked up. Gene looks at his calendar trying to find time to squeeze in a meeting. With all the construction going on, it’s hard to find time.

The thing is…April 15th is only a week away, so they schedule a meeting for next week.

—

Today’s the meeting with the accountant. After lunch, Gene drives to the accountant’s office to pick up the tax papers.

With this being Gene’s first year paying self-employment income tax, the accountant wants to go through the return with him. They sit down at the table in the conference room and the accountant begins explaining the different pages.

As they are going through the pages, Gene is beginning to feel a little nervous as he sees the numbers. Then the accountant gives Gene the return to sign and…

A voucher with $17,376 typed in the “Amount You Owe”.

Gene sits there quietly for a minute as he processes this number.

He looks up at the accountant with a distraught look on his face, “I don’t have that kind of money. I can’t afford this! How am I going to pay it?”

“You could borrow the money,” suggests the accountant.

“I already borrowed all I could to replace the truck transmission. Are there any other options?”

The accountant tells Gene that there is an option to set up payments with the IRS. Of course, there will be interest and penalties paying it off this way.

This would be better than pretending not to owe it.

Gene takes the paperwork and pays the accountant. It looks like Gene now has a new project to undertake.

After researching all the options, Gene contacts the IRS.

The process of setting up payments with the IRS was a nightmare and took weeks to get done. Now Gene has a monthly payment of $350 for the next 60 months. That’s five years and $21,000.

This is not how Gene pictured the first year of his dream business.

Now the bottom of the rut is not just deeper and muddy…it’s gone. Gene feels stuck. Like he’s got his hands and feet pressed against the sides of the rut without any way out.

Gene asks himself, “Why am I doing this? I could make more money and work less hours if I went back to work for someone else…”

Good vs. Evil…It’s a Choice

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It’s Up to You to Choose Wisely

Reading the book of Psalms is like riding an emotional roller coaster. One-minute things are going great. The writer is on top of the world. The next thing you know they are wallowing in the mud with everything going wrong.

This shouldn’t surprise us. The theme throughout the Bible is good vs. evil starting in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve could choose to eat the fruit or not…they didn’t choose wisely. Moses laid out the choice of good and evil.

This is not a choice of being righteous or a sinner.

It’s a choice of turning our face or our back to God.

We’re starting through the book of Psalms over the next several weeks. The Psalms are big enough that we aren’t planning to do all of them at this point. But, we’ll start at the beginning.

The first chapter of Psalms addresses both things. It tells us what to expect if we do good or what will happen when we do evil.

1 Great blessings belong to those
    who don’t listen to evil advice,
who don’t live like sinners,
    and who don’t join those who make fun of God.[a]
2 Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings
    and think about them day and night.
3 So they grow strong,
    like a tree planted by a stream—
a tree that produces fruit when it should
    and has leaves that never fall.
Everything they do is successful.

4 But the wicked are not like that.
    They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 When the time for judgment comes, the wicked will be found guilty.
    Sinners have no place among those who do what is right.
6 The Lord shows his people how to live,
    but the wicked have lost their way.

If we choose good, we’re like a tree planted by a stream. We will produce good fruit and be successful. (verse 3)

“The gate to life is narrow. The path to destruction is wide and leads to death.”

– Matthew 7:13-14

Just because the gate to life is narrow doesn’t mean it’s hard…it’s narrow because it’s just one thing. The fact that it’s narrow feels restrictive. That’s why a lot of people chose the wide path. It feels more freeing.

This wide path distracts us from God. The noisy world pulls us in all kinds of different directions. It’s up to us to choose which path we’re going to follow.

Here are four things that the world has taught us that we can choose to unlearn:

  1. Taking bad advice – Adam and Eve took bad advice from the snake. They ate from the tree of good and evil and we know how that turned out. The world is full of snakes giving us bad advice. We can choose to take their advice or not.
  2. Attraction to the wrong path – These paths are wide and attractive. They’re easy to go down but lead to cliffs. We need to be aware of what wrong paths we’re being attracted to and avoid them.
  3. Sinful behaviors – These can be seemingly small things that won’t do that much harm. But they are sneaky. It’s not that big of a deal if I do this little thing. That food was really good…I think I’ll have seconds. There’s a price to pay.
  4. Cynicism – This attitude of general distrust of others leads to a lack of faith and hope. With all the negativity and pessimism out there, it’s easy to be cynical. This causes chaos and division…just what Satan wants. It makes us ineffective.

We can choose which path we’re going to travel…the good or the evil. We have control over our behaviors.

We can choose to turn our face or our back toward God.

Choose wisely.

If You Don’t Like How Things Are, Change is Required

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Or You Can Just Keep Doing What You’ve Been Doing 

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.  

This common quote is attributed to a lot of different people. It doesn’t matter who said it. What matters is what it says. 

I think this quote is so popular because of the truth that it represents. 

I recently shared how change is hard. This seems especially true for people in construction but isn’t limited to them. 

Without intentional action, nothing is going to change. Things will just continue as they are.  

I know a lot about the struggle with change because…I’m one of those people who doesn’t like change.  

This was evident when our church was considering changing the hierarchy of our committees.  

As long as I can remember we had an Administrative Council to oversee other committees in different areas. These included finance, trustees, staff/pastor parish, nurture, outreach, witness, communications, memorial, and a whole lot of others. 

I thought this system worked just fine. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

Some in the church thought this system resulted in too many meetings. Many felt overwhelmed by the meetings. There were a lot of meetings. 

The suggestion was to reorganize and consolidate most of the committees into one larger committee. This might mean longer meetings, but fewer of them. It was voted on and approved to try the new system.  

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is I-dont-like-change.jpg

I was not for the change. I went kicking and screaming…okay, this might be a little exaggerated. The point here is there were some things with the old system that needed to change. And… 

Doing things over and over again expecting different results is insane.  

We made the change, and it seems to be working. 

If we aren’t open to change and trying new things, nothing will ever improve. We’ll just stay stuck in our rut. Walking back and forth as it gets deeper and deeper. 

It’s been said that a rut is grave with both ends kicked out. Don’t spend your life in a grave. There’s so much more for us if we just get out of the rut.  

Change is scary. We’re used to our rut. The change we don’t know is scarier than the pain we do know. This resistance to change could be because of the unknown. It could be the time the change is going to take.  

Another scary thing about change is that it’s not a one and done thing. Change is a continual process. We want simple, but that’s not how life works. The question is: do you want control over the direction of your life…or do you want to leave it to the world around you? 

We have the power of choice. We can choose to change or not.  

We also shouldn’t change just for the sake of change. Change should be intentional and based on knowing who you are, knowing what you want, and being true to these. 

Too many people drift through life without any direction or purpose. If this mundane rut is where you want to stay…just keep doing what you’re doing. But if you want to build a dream life…do something about it! 

“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” Tony Robins 

For Such a Time as This

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The Question is: What Are You Going to Do About It?

It’s Independence Day 2024. This is when we in America celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the 56 delegates who later became known as the nation’s founding fathers. This declaration explains to the world why the Thirteen Colonies regarded themselves as independent, sovereign states no longer subject to British rule. 

This Declaration has become one of the most circulated, reprinted, and influential documents in world history. It has proven an influential and globally impactful statement on human rights, particularly its second sentence:  

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  

The signing of the Declaration came at a cost.

“And, for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” 

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships resulting from the Revolutionary War. 

Standing up for what’s right requires bravery and comes with risk. 

We see this same kind of bravery and risk in the Bible in the book of Esther. This book shows us how God works through people in a fallen world who are willing to step out bravely. 

Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, learns that Haman–King Xerxes second in command–plotted to kill all the Jews in Persia. This included Mordecai and Esther who is queen.  

Mordecai tells Esther that she needs to talk to the king about this. There’s a big risk to this. If she goes to the king without being invited, the king might have her killed. 

In Esther 4:10-14 Mordecai tells her: 

“Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. 

Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” 

Esther and Mordecai were both brave and took risks. Mordecai wouldn’t bow to Haman. Esther went to the king with her request. Both things worked out. Both Mordecai and Esther did things outside their comfort zones. 

We’re all called for such a time as this. 

Our callings may not be as big as the Founding Fathers, Mordecai, or Esther, but we’ve been called. It’s up to us to be aware of our calling and do something.  

The question is…what are you going to do about it? 

Have a great Independence Day! 

There’s Too Much to Do and Not Enough Time to Do It

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This is Where Delegation Comes in 

Having too much to do and not enough time to do it is a common situation. This is especially true for people in construction. 

Chasing my tail and trying to keep up is a good description of how this past week was for me. There were four different construction projects being done at the same time. This involved organizing multiple subcontractors and materials. 

In addition to this, there are six construction projects that are either waiting to be started, need to be scheduled, or need change orders done. 

Oh, and don’t forget the proposals that need to be made, payment applications and invoices for the week, and record keeping. 

Sounds like a pretty normal week in construction, doesn’t it? 

This week wasn’t necessarily any busier than normal. It was the need for my involvement in the construction projects that was the big difference. This required a change of focus. I need help! 

One of the things that I struggle with is delegating. By nature, I try to do everything. It is my business after all. Serving my customers well is my responsibility. But me doing everything can only work if I limit what I’m going to do.  

Over the last several years, I have been working hard to figure out who exactly God has designed me to be. What my strengths and weaknesses are.  

As I worked through this process, I have reached a conclusion. God’s intended purpose for me is to help as many people as possible find solutions for building their dreams. Even if they may not know they’re looking for them.  

There is a limit to how many people I can help by myself.  

In Exodus 18:13-26, Moses was trying to solve all the issues of all the people. There were so many people that needed help and he couldn’t help them all. His father-in-law saw this and recommended that he share the load and put his energy and focus on what God had designed him to do…not everything.  

If I am going to help more people and help them well, I must share my load, just like Moses. 

One of the problems of delegation is that too often sharing of the load is done without much clarity or planning. Positions are just filled with the first warm body that comes along and says yes.  

Rather than helping to carry the load, this often just makes it heavier. If you have ever experienced this, it makes it harder to share the load the next time. 

It’s taken me a long time to figure out how to share the load, but I think I’m getting closer. My busy week would have been busier, or less would have gotten done, if it hadn’t been for my Virtual Assistant (VA), Emily.  

I couldn’t have done it without Emily! 

This help became evident as I was talking with one of the subs. He was working on one of the construction projects this week and asked me how I was able to get so much done.  

I told him it was my VA Emily. He said, “I need an Emily.” I told him to find his own, because he couldn’t have mine.   

In construction there are always towering mountains that need to be moved.  

The key to moving the mountains is to share the shovels.  

I am going to be careful and intentional about who gets what shovel. I need to make sure that the shovel and the person using it are a match. 

Now…who’s getting the next shovel? 

Even if delegating is not natural for me. It’s needed if I’m going to fulfill God’s purpose to help as many people as possible find solutions for building their dreams.  

This is a revision of a previous post titled Sharing the Shovels.

God’s Patience with Us Has a Limit

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I Would Recommend Not Pushing It

Pastor Lisa shared with us that her husband Brian is very patient, however, he has a word that he uses when he has reached his limit. When this word comes out of his mouth, people are caught off guard and are a little surprised.

This word is…are you ready for it…ALRIGHT.

ALRIGHT, that will be enough.

God’s very patient with us as well, but He also has an ALRIGHT.

We can see this throughout the Old Testament of the Bible. The people would continually lose their way and start following the worldly ways of the people around them. God would give reminder after reminder until He would reach an ALRIGHT.

God reached one of His ALRIGHTS when His chosen people were conquered, their temple destroyed, and they were taken to Babylon. Later Persia conquered Babylon and they found themselves under Persia’s authority.

Then some years later, King Cyrus of Persia’s heart was moved to send the Jewish people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. God stirred the hearts of the priests, Levites, and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-6).

We’ve all felt these kinds of nudging’s that we were supposed to do something. We may not be sure exactly what it is. We might feel that we’re not qualified to do that thing. We might think that thing is too hard or will take too long.

This kind of prodding is “HOLY DISCONTENT”.

This is what King Cyrus and the people going to Jerusalem felt. It was not an easy task. It was a long journey. When they got there, everything was in ruins, people had taken over what was left, and these people didn’t want to give it back.

There is a process for dealing with HOLY DISCONTENT.

  1. Wait on God – Everything in God’s time
  2. Trust in God – He won’t lead you on the wrong path
  3. Embrace the journey – This is where God has called you to
  4. Expect opposition – There will be push back from the naysayers
  5. Expect support – The support you need will be there when you need it
  6. Watch the plan unfold – This is the part that makes the journey worth it

Too often we ignore the HOLY DISCONTENTS in our lives. If we ignore them too long, God’s patience will wear thin, and we will get an ALRIGHT. Don’t push it because we are all given a limited time. As long as we are still alive, God will continue to give us HOLY DISCONTENTS, but there’s a limited time. Don’t wait!

What are the Three Ways Heat Moves?

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It’s Important to Know This Because Your Money Can Move with It

It’s that time of the year again; temperatures on the thermometer are creeping near the 100-degree mark. This raises the issue of keeping the heat outside and the cool air inside.

This issue is even more relevant if you live in a home that is 40 years old or older.

A home built before the mid-seventies is more likely affected by outside temperatures. Not enough insulation, single-pane windows, and air infiltration are all issues that may need attention.

Understanding how heat moves in and out of your home can help you determine what projects to consider undertaking to minimize the heat. It can also help determine which projects are most important.

There is a difference between heat and hot air.

A basic misunderstanding is that heat flows upward. This is not the case. Although, hot air rises because it is less dense than cool air.

Heat is unaffected by gravity and flows in all directions.

For example, if you apply a heat source to the center of a metal block, the bottom will get just as hot as the top and sides. Heat spreads in all directions and at the same rate.

Hot air is different. When the air in an attic or fireplace gets hot, the air begins to rise. This creates a draft or natural up flow. This is why vented ridges on roofs work so well.

Heat moves through your home in three different ways. Each needs to be considered and will require different methods or products to control this heat transfer:

  • First, conduction is like the metal block example above or the handle of a cast iron skillet on your stove. This is how heat moves through the walls, ceilings, and floors in your home. The temperature difference on either side of a wall determines how fast and which direction the heat will flow through it. The higher the R-value of insulation in that wall, the slower the heat transfer.
  • Second, convection transfer is like conduction, but occurs in fluids and gases. When a cold wind is blowing outside, this increases the loss of heat through the wall more than if the air was still. This is the “wind chill” factor. Convection ovens use this form of heat transfer to cook by moving hot air. This is why they cook faster than conventional ovens.
  • The last type of heat transfer is radiation, which is probably the most difficult of the three to understand. Radiation does not need a transfer material to move heat. This is how the sun warms the earth over millions of miles of empty space or how the top of a steak gets seared in the broiler. Radiant heat transfer is generally more of an issue in the summer but shouldn’t be ignored during the winter. Radiant heat is not blocked by standard insulation, but rather by reflectivity. An example of this would be the way dark colors of roofing, siding, etc. absorb heat and light colors reflect it.

All three of these are to blame for heat entering your home in the summer and leaving it in the winter.

Adequate wall and ceiling insulation, high-quality windows and doors would be a good place to begin. These can be expensive but will give you the biggest return on your investment.

There are several small ways to make improvements, including new weather stripping, filling voids in foundations with spray foam, sealing around electrical and plumbing openings, etc.

Also wind breaks (i.e. evergreen trees or privacy fences) can help.

NOW would be a good time to give some consideration to these issues before it gets even hotter.

Investing in these kinds of home improvements can help keep you cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. They also provide an economic payback with lower utility bills.

Do what you can to keep the money in your home and minimize it being transferred with the heat.

What Would We Do Without Dads?

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Nothing…Because We Wouldn’t Even Be Here

That’s right. We wouldn’t have been born without a father. But just being a father doesn’t mean we’re good at it.

Being a good father is a big job.

This past Sunday was Father’s Day, so it only makes sense that this was the focus of Pastor Lisa’s message.

So, what does it mean to be a father?

While it might seem obvious what “dad” means– a male parent– it’s often hard to define the role of a dad.

Dad can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. So, what do children need? After all, the definition is a male parent.

Children need many things from their parents, but let’s break it down into the main pieces. They need:

  • Necessities of life
  • Human interaction
  • Care and comfort
  • Warmth and love
  • Guidance and protection
  • To be important to someone

These relate to the different roles that dads (and moms) play.

Human parents are not perfect…some are quite bad at it. We’ve all known people who have bad fathers or don’t even know who their father was.

This is where mentoring comes in. Young men need good role models. These role models can come in the form of coaches, camp counselors, dads of friends, teachers, etc.

We all need people to look up to and try to be like. We should all try to be those people.

This is where my friend Shep’s book, Step into Your Legacy, can be helpful. His book is a guide for men, helping them strive to be people who inspire others through actions and words. Whether it’s the way we treat our families, the kindness we show to others, or the dedication at our workplace, every moment is an opportunity to make an impact.

Being a good dad requires knowing what it means to be a good dad and being intentional about doing it.

As Pastor Lisa has been taking us through the Old Testament, we have seen the kings go back and forth from good and following God to bad and not. This human condition is just that: human.

This is why we need to be aware and understand ourselves and our humanness. Then it’s up to us to be intentional in our actions and learn how to be better.

Often, we get into routines and habits and don’t realize what we’re doing. A good example of how this happens and what we can do about it is in 2 Chronicles 34:14-15; 29-33. In the Scripture, Hilkiah discovers the Book of the Law in the Temple. It is then shared with King Josiah who makes changes and promises to do what’s right.

The best example of how to be a good dad (or mom) is our Heavenly Father and we learn this by reading His Word.

Regardless of what our father here on earth is like, God is our Heavenly Dad. Sure, we wouldn’t have been born without an earthly father. But, the same is true for our Heavenly Father.

I hope you had a great Father’s Day. Going forward, I hope you strive to be more like our Heavenly Father.