During this past week, I sat down with Peanut and Pumpkin, although she was more interested in playing with the markers and looked over our family mission statement. Peanut and I had written this a few years ago, but I felt like it was time for us to revisit and make sure that the information still applied and to see if we needed to add anything.
I started with this website http://www.familieswithpurpose.com/ they have great ideas about families and what you want yours to look like, how you want your family to function and creating a family dynamic. It has an entire section on defining who you are, conquering the chaos and even family fun ideas. One of my favorite aspects of this site is that it teaches you to be you and not worry so much about keeping up with the Jones. (By the way, I hate that phrase, who in the heck made them so special, that we have to live up to them!)
The next website, that I used to create our family mission statement was http://www.franklinconvey.com/. This website will walk you step by step through the writing of your family motto/mission statement. The process starts with you jotting down ideas and putting it together into sentences. I did this by asking Peanut ask what he loved about our family, and what were his favorite memories, activities and what he wanted to do more of. Once, I had our information, I plugged it into the generator, approximately 12 steps later (think this is a coincidence?), our mission statement was created.
Our family mission statement:
As a family we are at our best when we are having fun and being silly.
We will try to prevent times when we are not supporting each other .
We will find more time with each other to play games, go for walks, sit by the fire, swim, visit the beach, camp, look at the stars and be silly.
We will help each family member listening to each other, helping each other when we are down, giving hugs and encouragement.
We will help others by donating our time, money and unwanted belongings.
We will stop procrastinating and start working on: supporting each other, focusing more on each other rather than things, and becoming more resourceful.
We will be viewed as a family that down to earth, caring, selfless people.
We will fill our home with LOVE.
We will make choices and decisions based on: kindness, humility, trust, hard work, love and respect.
We will constantly renew ourselves by focusing on:
We will try to prevent times when we are not supporting each other .
We will find more time with each other to play games, go for walks, sit by the fire, swim, visit the beach, camp, look at the stars and be silly.
We will help each family member listening to each other, helping each other when we are down, giving hugs and encouragement.
We will help others by donating our time, money and unwanted belongings.
We will stop procrastinating and start working on: supporting each other, focusing more on each other rather than things, and becoming more resourceful.
We will be viewed as a family that down to earth, caring, selfless people.
We will fill our home with LOVE.
We will make choices and decisions based on: kindness, humility, trust, hard work, love and respect.
We will constantly renew ourselves by focusing on:
- enjoying the moment, treating our bodies as temples
- loving and worshiping God in unlimited ways
- maintaining our wits
- talking through our emotions and
- Remembering that we are truly blessed.
- Loving each other All the Numbers, All the Time
Our Mission Statement hangs in the living room and not only does it serve as a reminder for our family but shares with the world who we are and what is important to us.
In addition to our family Mission Statement, we have been writing down and perfecting our family traditions! I cannot wait to share those with you!
James E. Faust, May 1983, said:
"Develop family traditions. Some of the greatest strengths of families can be found in their own traditions."
Here are the reasons we must create family traditions: ( a friend of mine emailed these to me, and I would love to be able to share where she got them (I'll keep you posted).)
We ALL have these basic human NEEDS:1. A need to BELONG
2. A strong sense of IDENTITY
3. ACCEPTANCE by others
4. Emotional & physical SECURITY
Family Traditions can:1. Bind hearts & give family members a sense of identity
2. Connect family members to heritage
3. Remind family members what they stand for
4. Acknowledge & celebrate important events in the lives of family members
5. Give a sense of security & continuity
6. Cement people together as a family unit
2. A strong sense of IDENTITY
3. ACCEPTANCE by others
4. Emotional & physical SECURITY
Family Traditions can:1. Bind hearts & give family members a sense of identity
2. Connect family members to heritage
3. Remind family members what they stand for
4. Acknowledge & celebrate important events in the lives of family members
5. Give a sense of security & continuity
6. Cement people together as a family unit
This is such a lovely post. Your family mission statement is great, shows how much love and support you have for each other and how tight your family ties are. Thanks for sharing at Beach Cottage Good Life Wednesdays.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I love that we know and can tell people what we stand for. I am still amazed at how strong writing and posting our mission statement has made us!
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