A little while back, Claudia and I decided on a mission statement for our family. We did this because we wanted a statement of purpose for our family and for our home. We also wanted something that would guide the actions of our family, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making.
Andy Stanley talks about your mission as a “nonnegotiable imperative,” so this a framework that keeps us on course for where we want to go.
While we have a different one for our marriage, this is our family’s mission statement. It’s a poem by Mary MacCracken which we choose to adopt.
Our family mission statement (photo by nebraska_becky)
If you think a mission statement is something you’d like to put together, I’d suggest this resource and these tips.
Question: Do you have a mission statement for your family? If you wouldn’t mind, please share it with us in the comments of the post.
That is really beautiful – short, to the point and really covers all the important bases! I love it. While we didn’t do a family mission statement per se – this is my personal mission statement that relates to my home and family:
My primary mission: to
know, love and honor God with my life every day; to appreciate the
gift of each day;
to be fully present in all I do; to walk in love.
I want my legacy to be:
unmistakable evidence of the power and presence of God in my life.
My mission as Alex’s
wife: to support, help and encourage Alex. To treat him with love
and respect; to care for his physical health and well being.
I want my legacy to be:
a healthy, enthusiastic, energetic man who loves, serves and honors
God and who loves his family and is fulfilling God’s call on his
life.
My mission as
Christopher, Matthew and Elizabeth’s mom: to care for their physical
health and to teach them good habits; to help them become people of
faith who live out a dynamic personal relationship with Jesus every
day by modeling a love for Him and His Word, a consistent prayer
life, bible study and obedience.
I want my legacy to be:
all my children loving and serving God with their lives; all my
children to be fulfilled and happy in their marriages and successful
in their chosen careers and fulfilling God’s call on their lives.
My mission as mistress
of my home: to create and maintain a loving, peaceful, orderly,
secure, clean, attractive home; to prepare and provide healthy,
nutritious meals.
I want my legacy to be:
a home where God’s peace and presence is welcome and manifested and
where all who enter are blessed and encouraged.
Love it, Ann! Thanks for sharing. I appreciate how your faith is intertwined with every part of it. Your family is blessed to have you as their wife and mother!
Ann, I like your personal mission statement, too. I especially like the parts about your legacy as it relates to raising your children “to be fulfilled and happy in their marriages and successful in their chosen careers and fulfilling God’s call on their lives”. Beautiful!
Thank you Jody.
What a great idea!
I may have to work on something like that for our home.
Thanks, James. Put something together and share it us!
I’m going to! It may take a bit of time to put it together.
Nice! I will say, one thing that helped us was to not stress over it too much, but put something together and then go back and change it if need be.
That’s good advice. Thanks!
Question: Is your Mission statement in a place where you see it regularly? I would think that helps keep it fresh and in your mind and eyes. We don’t have a Family Mission statement. I have a Legacy statement personally that I have in my office. It may be more defined as I get older, but for now this would be enough for me.
– A giving, encouraging, and loving Husband that helped his wife be the best she could be
– A father that raised a confident and courageous daughter
– A man that loved God with all his heart
– Someone that reached out to those in need to step in to help when they couldn’t help themselves
– Someone that stood in the gap for young men without fathers to let them know they have what it takes.
Michael, right now it’s easily accessible, but not visible. We have it with our goals clipped to our idea board. Need to put it in front of the toilet like Dan and Joanne did!
Well done with your legacy statement! Thanks for sharing.
I remember reading about Dan and Joanne’s bathroom mission statement. On the occasions where we were at their house, I made it a point to go to the bathroom and read it. I should have taken a picture 🙂
We don’t have a family mission statement, but I think it’s a great idea. Like James, we’ll have to work on one. We do have three simple rules for Elijah: 1) Listen the first time 2) No whining 3) Be respectful. Those seem to cover most situations 🙂
Michael that’s beautiful and from what I know of you, it sounds just like you!