Family Shift | The 5 Step Plan To Stop Drifting And Start Living With Greater IntentionSample

Day 1

Shift The Drift

Thought For The Day

Every family ends up somewhere, but few families end up somewhere on purpose. -Rodney and Michelle Gage

Scripture For The Day

Isaiah 43:19 (NLT) “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

When you throw a leaf into a stream of water, what happens?  The leaf will drift with the flow of the current.  The truth is that our marriages and families are no different.  Every marriage and family relationship has a flow.  The current flow or direction of your family is either moving closer toward God and each other, or you are drifting further apart from the things that matter most in your life.  We call it the danger of drift.  

A couple doesn’t wake up one day and suddenly have marriage issues.  Teenagers don’t suddenly start using drugs or alcohol. The problem with drift is that it happens gradually over time.  What are the danger signs of D.R.I.F.T.?  

D-Disappointment

R-Regret

I-Isolation

F-Frustration

T-Tension

Perhaps you are feeling some or all of these symptoms in your marriage or family.  The good news is that there is hope.  You can stop drifting and start living with greater intention.  You can refocus and renew your situation if you’re willing to make some necessary shifts in your marriage and family relationships.  In the next 5 days, we are going to lay out a 5-Step framework that we have outlined in our book called Family Shift.  These five shifts are designed to help you as a couple or as a parent transform your most important relationships.  However, it is going to require change.  

In today’s scripture verse, the people of Israel had drifted from God’s original plans and purposes.  Consequently, they had suffered greatly as a result of their unbelief and stubborn ways.  The only way they were going to be able to shift from where they were to where God wanted them to be was to change their beliefs.  God reminded them of all that He had rescued them from in the past.  He also reminded them of the promise He was going to fulfill.  He wanted to do a “new thing” in them and through them.  That same promise holds true for your marriage and family.  God wants to do something fresh and new.  He wants to make a pathway for your most important relationships and create rivers of deeper understanding, love and purpose for your home.  Are you ready to make a shift from where you are to where you desire to be?  Before you go any further, make this declaration of your firm intentions: 

I declare a shift is coming—

A shift in my marriage.

A shift in my family relationships. 

A shift in my priorities.

A shift in my future.

Prayer For The Day

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your promises.  Thank you for making a way when there seems to be no way.  Today, I recognize that I have drifted in my relationships with my spouse and with my family.  I pray you will allow us to make the necessary shifts in our lives to get our home back on the right track and start moving in a new direction that allows us to experience your purposes for our lives.  With you, God, I believe that all things are possible.  I’m ready to make the shift.  In Jesus’s name, Amen.   

Make The Shift

Identify the distractions, choices and challenges that have caused your marriage or family to drift from where it could be and should be.  Schedule a date night or family gathering and let it be known that you want to stop drifting as a family and make a commitment to start living with greater intention.  Don’t point fingers or bring up anything from the past.  Instead share your heart and focus on the future.  Let it be known that you want to experience everything God has in store for your family.