A Purpose-Driven Home 

When my boys were young, my husband and I intentionally provided opportunities for them to work hard and see results. Things such as yard cleaning/mowing, helping with chores, caring for pets, babysitting, and all that goes with maintaining a home. Doing landscaping and mowing the lawn at our home and in the family business gave them a sense of what it’s like to do work beyond themselves and receive well-earned compensation for that work. Duncan and I were (and are!) so proud of their hard work and saw the fruits of their labour. They were hard-working and determined, even though (like all young people do!) they occasionally grumbled about it. But that’s part of the lesson, too–sometimes we don’t want to do things until we do them and see the far-reaching benefits that seemingly small acts of service can have. Our boys worked as a team, and they had a purpose. They knew what they needed to accomplish and worked towards those things. Even now, I see their incredible diligence while they work as young men.

Thinking beyond yourself and helping your kids to do the same instills in them a greater sense of purpose–a purpose-driven home.

One of the most significant benefits of teaching my kids at home was weaving those values of determination and hard work into our daily lives. Whether it was math, music or chores, whatever we did, we tried to do it with purpose. It was not always easy! We know that hard work for kids can just be hard! That is the same for all of us. Knowing this allows us to have more even more grace as parents because we understand the challenge and reward of hard work!

Watching my kids grow in these values and carry them forward has been uniquely rewarding, and I am so proud of them. If we don’t encourage our kids to think beyond themselves, work hard inside the home and outside of the home, serving neighbours and helping out in the community and beyond, we run the risk of our kids becoming very insulated and may start to question their worth. Their attention then turns inward, and a sense of purposelessness can start to haunt them. We all need a greater purpose beyond ourselves. That purpose is found in Christ.

I remember a story from a young girl that was sad no one even noticed all the hard work she had done to clean and her mom wisely reminded her that sometimes no one will, but when we remember to serve the Lord and not worry about who sees or acknowledges us, our Heavenly Father does! That is not always easy to do! But a timely reminder for all of us!

Our kids need to understand hard work and purpose-driven goals. We serve because Christ came to serve the world, not be served by it.

If we teach this and model it to our kids, we can hopefully remind them the value of having a greater purpose beyond themselves. It can help them to be more significant contributors to the homes and families in which they’re raised, as well as outside of the home in their communities and into the world. Meeting the needs of other people is a gift that we can give to others. Praise them, thank them, and let them know the positive impact they had! Raise your kids with purpose, and provide them with opportunities to live out that purpose. If we can do that, then Lord willing, they will become an example to others and perhaps their own families one day. One day at a time we can walk with our kids and remind them how much they are needed, and that they are precious gifts from God and have a wonderful purpose to live out found in the Great Commandment right from His Word. We can begin right at home by loving the Lord and serving others.

The Great Commandment

^“But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:34-40

 

 

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace”

1 Peter 4:10

 

 

“And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:42-45

 

 

 

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works”

Hebrews 10:24

This is one of my favourite songs lately! Enjoy and may you be blessed! “With arms wide open I am running back to you!” Seph Schlueter