family mission statement

What does your family stand for?  Do you like to have others into your home and practice hospitality?  Perhaps you enjoy living outwardly; focusing on others and how you can best serve them.  Are there certain things that absolutely do not fly in your household or maybe there is a verse or a saying that encompasses your purpose as a family.

Recently I took a class at my church called Family Foundations.  The goal was to create a mission statement to both anchor and launch your family.  I've been wanting to take this class for quite some time and finally the fates {my schedule} aligned and I was able to take it and let me tell you, the experience has been invaluable.  As a single parent, I want to be the best parent I can be TODAY and consistency is one of the best ways to anchor and guide one's children;  it is also the area in which I struggle the most.  A true saying of myself is, "I am consistently inconsistent."  

There were many steps in creating the statement from involving our kids and asking them what they thought our family stood for to looking at how our parents raised us and determining those things we wanted to repeat and those things we'd rather not.  

My kids are 6, 4, 2, and 11 months, but I did ask the two older ones what they thought we should include.  Roman gave me the token boy "nod and grunt" while Zahara extrapolated, "We, the P_____ family, with our noble hearts do solemnly swear to love God and ......." Yes, I kid you not.  The kid is dramatic.

I started a Pinterest board for family mission statements and there are a lot of good ideas on there.  Originally I wanted to do something with my last name, but that entailed too many points.  Another couple from the previous class who have three boys quite close in age, much like I have with my kiddos talked about how they needed a mission statement that they could implement right then and there and that resonated with me.  

My entire family, myself included, are going through some major life changes and I needed something that I could point the kids to NOW.  I kept the original with my name, but settled on the following for our mission statement:

We the P____ family will practice 

gratitude by taking care of our belongings and saying thank you.

Knowing that we have been blessed by God for a reason we will

reach out by praying for those who do not have a Bible to read

or food to eat.

We will encourage one another by cheering each other on

and speaking kindly.

We will apologize, forgive, and do not use potty talk.

Have you made a family mission statement?

How do you use it?