Family Mission Statement

Do you have a Family Mission Statement? Don’t hang your head if you have to say, “Not really” or “I don’t even know what that is”. Nobody’s judging. You’re in the majority.   A Family Mission Statement is what we want our family known for… what we want to accomplish as a family. It’s our profile picture to everyone who encounters our family. A Family Mission Statement is similar to an exercise I had to do in one of my college classes – write my own eulogy and then make a plan to actually be that kind of a person at the end of my life.   So often we create business goals, fitness goals, and personal goals; however we fail to apply the same strategic significance to our families and where they’re headed. To quote a wonderful man whose life influenced thousands of seminary students who went on to influence hundreds of thousands more,  

If you aim at nothing, you’re sure to hit it. -Howard Hendricks

  This time tested adage is just as true for our families as it is in any area of our lives. Family is fleeting. Before we know it, the children who consumed our time, energy, money and youthfulness, are gone and starting families of their own. So often, we look back with regret, wishing that we’d been more deliberate with our relational capital.   Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. Whether you’re writing your wedding thank you notes, knee deep in diapers and play dough, or in the middle of braces and learner’s permits, it’s not too early or late to step back, look at the family God has entrusted to you and collaborate on a Family Mission Statement.   A Mission Statement will be our best ally when it comes to the many decisions that we will face as a family:   Career Choices School Choices Church Choices Service Area Choices Extra Curricular Choices Friend Choices Financial Choices Parenting Choices   A clear vision of our family’s purpose and goals will guide us as we navigate all the possibilities that come our way. And nothing says that we can’t make some mid course adjustments to our Mission Statement as well.   Below are a few guidelines as you craft your own Family Mission Statement:  

1. Involve all of your family members who are capable of contributing. Definitely your spouse if you’re married, your step children if you’re blended and your adult children if they’re going to be living at home for a while (yikes!).
2. Ask God to give you creativity, vision and unity as you create your Family Mission Statement.
3. Try to keep your statement to a paragraph otherwise it becomes a bit overwhelming and loses its punch.
4. Agree on a few adjectives that you want to describe your family values.
5. Concur on several priorities that will guide your decisions and use of resources.
6. Include a succinct statement that captures a united purpose for your family.
7. Combine these thoughts into a concise paragraph and then let it sit for a day or so.
8. Revisit the statement together, finalize it and then dedicate your statement and efforts to God.

  Here’s a template that a friend of mine uses as she encourages others in this exercise: Our Family, {Your Family Name}, exists to {Basic Statement of Purpose}.  Because we value {Core values}, we will make our home a place of {Adjectives to describe your home environment}, and together we will build a family that prioritizes {list top priorities}. And this is the Kimmel Family Mission Statement based on the above template: Our family, The Kimmels, want to be image bearers of God’s love and grace to a hurting world. Because we value God and others, we want to be known as people of compassion, integrity, and faith. Together, we will encourage and equip each other to love all who God brings our way, regardless of how alike or different they are to us.   Once you’ve finalized your Mission Statement, think of creative ways to display it (Pinterest is full of them) and claim it as your own. Make it your mantra and repeat it to each other during car time, bath time, dinner time, bedtime, fun time or anytime. If you’re really talented, you can compose your own family mission song.   Family Mission Statements are a simple way to solve some very complex issues. Why not give it a try? Proverbs 29:18 says that “Without vision, people perish”.   Here’s how The Message Paraphrase puts it: If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.   Your Family Mission Statement will guarantee that you’ll not only survive as a family but that you’ll thrive in the midst of all your choices and decisions.   We’d love to get a peek at yours when you’ve created it!   Here’s to future hopes and present help,   Love, Darcy