Do you ever feel like the days are going by so fast that you can barely keep up, much less live with intention? When it feels like your family is struggling with the busyness of life, having established family values can remind you what is most important.
You may have seen those cute family rules signs in Hobby Lobby that say “Do your best,” “Dream big,” and “Have fun.” Generic family values are cute, but they are just lifeless words on a board.
The phrase family rules
Family values represent your core beliefs, the ideals you hold most dear. If they are clearly defined, they remind you who you are as a family and what you stand for.
Why is this so important for your family? A family with defined values marches in the same direction. And, when life gets off track, you have a North Star to get you back to where you want to go.
When you decide to establish values for your family, it’s important to involve your husband and kids if they are old enough. And there’s no better way to begin than to pray and ask for God’s guidance in establishing your family’s priorities.
I have found when defining values that it’s easier to adapt and change what someone else is using rather than starting from scratch. So, I’m going to give you a list of ideas in many areas of life that will give you a jumping off point.
Spiritual Values
- We love Jesus more than anything or anyone else.
- We pursue God and
growth in our relationship with Him. - We honor God with our thoughts, words
and actions. - We appreciate and serve our church family.
- We believe prayer is powerful.
Family Values
- We believe the most important relationship
is husband and wife. - We believe mommy & daddy alone time and parent & child alone time is key.
- We believe in experiencing new adventures and places together.
- We aren’t afraid of making mistakes.
- We say, “I love you,” and are generous with hugs and kisses.
- We are quick to forgive each other.
- We tell the truth in love.
- We take responsibility for our actions.
Friends & Community Values
- We believe in giving back to our community.
- We believe friends are an extension of our family.
- We stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.
- We believe the best of others until proven otherwise.
- We treat others with kindness and love regardless of our differences.
Health Values
- We put nourishing foods in our bodies.
- We move our bodies to keep them healthy.
- We play just as hard as we work.
- We choose gratitude over complaints.
- We choose relationships over technology.
- We believe in thinking about what we think about.
Financial Values
- We are generous with what we have.
- We believe in giving first, saving second and spending last.
- We don’t buy things we can’t pay for.
- We believe in saving for a rainy day.
- We own stuff, but our stuff doesn’t own us.
Work Values
- We believe in hard work.
- We believe the seeds you sow are more important than the harvest you reap.
- We believe in continual learning and improvement.
- We believe in developing our talents and gifts.
- We believe work is a way we can serve others, and as such, is important.
These values are simply meant to help you get started. Take any of them and tweak them to make them better represent your family. It’s best to limit the number of values you choose to 10 or less so it doesn’t get overwhelming.
And remember, there is a reason we aren’t etching them in stone. As our families get older, seasons change. We all grow in maturity, and sometimes, our values change too. Revisit this exercise anytime you think your family values need an update.
Here’s the fun part: displaying your family values. You could have them custom designed on Etsy, but if you’re looking for something a little simpler, here’s a FREE printable so you can create your own family values print. Print
You can see how our family values print turned out below. Just a note: You can customize this as much or as little as you want. I like the simple, minimalistic look. You can change the font, change the font size to make each value fit on one line, change the alignment, add a graphic; it’s up to you.
I’d love to hear about what your family values. Drop me an email at defeatingbusy@gmail.com or comment on the Defeating Busy Facebook page and tell me one or two of them.
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