Our Family Vision Statement

We have been blessed; now we want to go & be a blessing to others.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At church lately, our pastor has been teaching out of the very first book of the Bible, Genesis. It’s some of the oldest history recorded, occurring around 4000 years ago.

One of the main characters is Abram (later his name became Abraham), and he is considered to be one of the Bible’s great heroes, though he was far from perfect. But, if one thing  Abram followed God. Abram was one of the people whom God chose to represent Himself to the peoples of the world all around him who didn’t believe in God. In Genesis chapter 12, God told Abram:

“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

God wanted to show who He is, what kind of God He is, and how much He loves the people of the entire world. His idea was to do so by first blessing Abram, who would then turn and bless others. How cool is that!? – both for Abram and for all of the people of the world!

Some time ago, as my husband Jason & I talked and prayed about what we want our family to be about, we latched onto this same idea. Unofficially, we landed on the statement: God has blessed us; now we want to go & be a blessing to others. We also want to raise our kids to be a blessing to others. I love having a vision statement because it helps us be on the same page about decisions we make and where we’re headed as a family. Most of all, it helps us prioritize, saying “no” even to good things that might get in the way of the best things.

What did our discussion regarding family vision include?

  • our individual talents
  • our personal passions (and specifically those passions that overlap between us)
  • the resources (time, money, etc.) we’ve been given
  • our season of life
  • the needs of the community in which we live

What are some of the specific ways we actively seek to fulfill this vision? (in order of importance)

  • supporting and giving to each other so that we can continue to grow to be all that God created each of us to be
  • raising our kids to love God & others; helping them to have boundaries & discipline
  • hospitality
  • generosity
  • blogging what we’re learning & how we’re growing

It must be said: Our vision statement is very fluid. I know that it will especially change as our kids mature and have different needs. But as long as we keep our hands open, it is still an excellent guide for us.

How about you? Do you have a personal vision statement? Or a family vision statement? What is it?


Comments

2 responses to “Our Family Vision Statement”

  1. I just think that Stone looks like a turtle. Did you draw that? 🙂

    This is great, Joce!

    1. Yes, he totally does! This is just a family portrait that I draw for Howie at least once per day when he asks me to draw with him and he wants me to draw our family. I guess babies are supposed to look like turtles to distinguish them from the “big” kids.