If your family's like mine, there are times when you've unintentionally over-scheduled, over-committed, and undermined the greatest of your family goals. You may find yourself looking around at the pile-up of unfinished tasks and incomplete conversations, and just feel overwhelmed. The all too familiar image of a tiny rodent running his legs off in a wheel that never ends and never goes anywhere comes to mind.
When the ebb and flow of life brings along seasons of weariness and lack of motivation, the question in our minds often shift from how I am to accomplish such and such, to why I am striving to do so in the first place. A purpose or mission statement serves to answer that very question. Organizations, companies, and institutions all have their own. Why not our families...why not us as individuals?
For a follower of Christ, the Word of God teaches us how to live, and should inform our individual and family mission statements as well. And rather than following the thoughts that float to and fro in your mind as to who you want to be and why you want to be such, write it down. When the seasons of life are demanding and the sacrifices made seem costly, we need something more concrete than our feelings and emotions. We need to be reminded of what we've determined our purposes to be; and thus, can evaluate whether we've stayed the course...or not.
What is our family's priorities? What is the tone of my home? How do we model the use of free time? What do our conversations consist of? How does the Great Commission affect our weekly schedule? Does our family culture place others more important than ourselves? When is that biblical, and when is it not?
These are just a few of the questions that form our family's mission statement. And perhaps, like us, you are ready to call in the troops, write or revisit your mission statement, and refocus your family's efforts, time, and heart.