{"id":843,"date":"2012-12-31T08:30:49","date_gmt":"2012-12-31T13:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kathyschiffer.com\/wordpress\/?p=843"},"modified":"2016-09-30T15:58:27","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:58:27","slug":"your-family-mission-statement-in-a-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2012\/12\/your-family-mission-statement-in-a-word\/","title":{"rendered":"YOUR FAMILY MISSION STATEMENT\u2014IN A WORD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>\u2018Tis that time of year. Gifts have been unwrapped, pumpkin pies have been consumed, games have been played, songs have been sung\u2014and all over the world, people turn their attention to\u2026.<\/p>\n

NEW YEAR\u2019S RESOLUTIONS!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the majority of Americans, their goals for the New Year will include at least some of these lofty yet popular goals:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Lose weight
\n\u2022 Get more exercise
\n\u2022 Get out of debt
\n\u2022 Spend more time with family and friends
\n\u2022 Stop smoking<\/p>\n

Well-intentioned Christians may throw in<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pray and attend church services more frequently<\/p>\n

All that is well and good.<\/span>\u00a0 Chances are, though, that if you\u2019re like me, by the third week of January those hefty resolutions will find themselves flung into the urban hinterlands in the back of your bureau\u2014if not, even worse, into the circular file\u2014and life will go on as before.<\/p>\n

My proposal for this year is to toss aside the list of complicated resolutions, and to instead employ a \u201cMission Statement\u201d in a single word.
\nOne word<\/span>, rich with meaning and significance.
\nOne word<\/span> which embodies all that I am, and all that I aspire to be.
\nOne word<\/span> is not too much to remember, and not too much to achieve.<\/p>\n

Among my coworkers and acquaintances, out there on the city street or bobbing in the maelstrom of humanity at the mall, are people whose one-word Mission Statement might be \u201cAcquire.\u201d
\n<\/strong>Others rivet their attention on a singular goal: \u201cWin.\u201d
\n<\/strong>An athlete might seek to \u201cScore\u201d;<\/strong> a college professor might hope to \u201cTeach\u201d<\/strong> while his student intends to \u201cLearn.\u201d
\n<\/strong>Children love to \u201cPlay.\u201d
\n<\/strong>Americans aim to \u201cSpend\u201d<\/strong> or \u201cSave,\u201d \u201cWork\u201d<\/strong> or \u201cPlay.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Having embraced, then gracefully emerged from a good many of these interim states of being, I pray this year for the courage and the stamina to grab onto a single goal\u2014to \u201cLove\u201d<\/strong>\u2014and then to do it well, to hold tight despite whatever storms and struggles the year will bring.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod is Love,\u201d John tells us (1 John 4:8); and by gnawing on Love, by rapacious grasping at Love, I hope to encounter Him more fully.<\/p>\n

If Love is the hallmark by which I dignify my every encounter\u2014if Love is both the means and the goal\u2014then I\u2019m sure to welcome the stranger, but also to bless the grocery clerk and the department manager with a kind word.
\nIf I have Love, I\u2019ll debate less and listen more.
\nAfire with Love, I\u2019ll mirror Christ to everyone I meet.<\/p>\n

Happy New Year! Bring it on!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cGod is Love,\u201d John tells us (1 John 4:8); and by gnawing on Love, by rapacious grasping at Love, I hope to encounter Him more fully.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,173],"tags":[2827,2849],"class_list":["post-843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-love","category-new-year","tag-love","tag-new-year"],"yoast_head":"\nYOUR FAMILY MISSION STATEMENT\u2014IN A WORD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cGod is Love,\u201d John tells us (1 John 4:8); and by gnawing on Love, by rapacious grasping at Love, I hope to encounter Him more fully.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2012\/12\/your-family-mission-statement-in-a-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"YOUR FAMILY MISSION STATEMENT\u2014IN A WORD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cGod is Love,\u201d John tells us (1 John 4:8); 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