A Mission Statement at Last

Way (way, way) back in November I blogged about creating a family mission statement. We found ourselves feeling a little lost between moving 1300 miles (again) and having just become parents. David and I were hoping to craft an encompassing statement of values to help us know where to focus our energy in a world that offers us almost limitless choices.

After a season of prayer, conversation and learning about ourselves we crafted this statement:

We, the Gainey family, believe that our purpose as a family is to bring glory to God. We hope to accomplish this by:
~valuing scripture and prayer as our guides.
~making our home a place of simplicity, stewardship and teamwork.
~prioritizing relationships over lesser values.
~interacting with each other in a spirit of love and respect.

While I can read this and know the depth of each word as it resonates in our hearts, I think a brief explanation of each section might be helpful (and good for me to look back on in the future!)

We, the Gainey family, believe that our purpose as a family is to bring glory to God.
If you're not a believer, the idea that we think our family is here to glorify God may sound a bit strange, if not narcissistic! We believe that the more joy we have in knowing God, the more glory we bring to him. Just as, when you enjoy who your husband or wife is and share that with others, it brings glory to them, although we might not typically think about it that way.

valuing scripture and prayer as our guides.
If we are going to enjoy who God is, how better to get to know him than through scripture and prayer? Sadly, we often choose to entertain ourselves rather than fill ourselves with the relationship our hearts most crave.

making our home a place of simplicity, stewardship and teamwork.
As we talked about how we saw our home (both the physical dwelling and the people in it) several themes kept resurfacing.

Simplicity: Having fewer things to maintain, clean, etc. to allow more time for relationships.

Stewardship: of our bodies, of the earth, our time, our finances, etc. This was just a huge topic for us.

Teamwork: David and I love to tackle things as a team. From rock climbing to loading the dishwasher we find life more fun when we work on things side by side.

prioritizing relationships over lesser values.
When life gets crazy, what is the one thing we refuse to sacrifice? Relationships: With God, each other, our children, our extended family and our friends. Will we be perfect? Nope. However, it's a great reminder that an unexpected visit with a friend in my messy house trumps putting off spending time together any day.

And finally, interacting with each other in a spirit of love and respect.

David and I find those two words sum up what needs to happen for us to feel close to one another.

There's nothing magical about having a mission statement. We'll still feel overwhelmed and unsure sometimes many times, but it's an anchor to come back to. Simple words, simple conversations, but I learned so much about my husband's heart (and my own) on our journey to write them. Thanks for letting me share them with you.

If you'd like to craft your own family mission statement, this post was our primary resource.