Foundations for Your Family

Family is not an important thing. It’s everything. Michael J. Fox

What is the foundation of a family? Have you thought about it? What about the foundation of your own family? The course of afamily is set by the man and woman over that family. We all like to say that family is the most important thing, but do we treat our family with the value that we say?

When my wife and I were dating and through our engagement we talked about how we wanted to wanted to raise our family. We talked about traditions that we wanted to set. Also we discussed the things that we didn’t want to include as a part of our family.

Your family is like a house, it needs a strong foundation Click To Tweet

This was like us building a house from the ground up. Our marriage is the house and the things that we discussed are our blueprints for our house. I know that everyone may not have the opportunity to do this when they start their family, and that’s okay. Life goes through stages and through each stage we have to make sure that our foundation is set. Here are threeways, no matter what stage of life you’re in, to set the proper foundation.

1. Assess what’s important

It should go without saying, but it’s too easy to drift through the stages of life. Think about it: what was important to you in your twenties is not necessarily what was important in your thirties, forties or fifties. Let’s switch it up; what was important when you were single, may not be as important after starting a family. And all those factors  change when your kids grow up and leave the house. If you want a good foundation for the stage that you’re in, then asses what’s important at your current stage. 

2. A consistent prayer life

The foundation of every family should be a consistent prayer life. Not all of us are raised in church, even if we are: there comes a time where we have to take our relationship with God seriously.

That being said, a consistent prayer life will carry you through every phase of life. It’s essential for the stability that we need. I wrote more about our prayer lives here. 

3. Values

Along with a consistent prayer life, our families should have a set of values that we live by. If you asked most people, they would tell you that they have a set of values that they live by, but if you press them to give examples they would tell you things that sound good. Not what they actually live by. For example, if you want to treat everyone as equals, then you have to model that to your family. It has to be established that everyone is treated fairly, even when it doesn’t benefit you. Values  aren’t assumed, but taught by example.

 

Discussion Question:

What phase of life are you in? What’s your foundation for this phase?

 

Leave your answer in the comments below.