Never let your schooling interrupt your education.

New Year’s Resolutions: Choosing Purposeful Words for Your Family in 2011

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Written by Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool and founder of Steady Mom

The new year stands peeking its head around the corner and now that Christmas is over, it’s the next event in line for our attention. This means party planning, resolution making, staying up late, and getting back in the homeschool saddle after a holiday break.

It’s also a natural time to consider where we are, where we’re going, and how we’re going to get there. Instead of resolutions many thoughtful bloggers, like Ali Edwards and Gretchen Rubin, recommend choosing one meaningful word to focus on for your new year.

Last year I did this as well. I chose the word “anticipation,” and 2010 has certainly lived up to it.

This year I’m thinking about words, not just for myself, but for my entire family. What key ideas define us and our purpose? Brainstorming your own list of words is another way to craft a family mission statement.

Having a completed list clearly narrows down the bombardment of choices you have to deal with in your day-to-day lives. It makes refocusing easier when you stumble off track or lose your way temporarily. It also simplifies your homeschool planning as you seek to find which curriculum or educational philosophy fits with who you are as a family unit.

Need a little help getting started? Read on to see a sampling of my family’s purposeful words:

  • FAITH
  • BEAUTY
  • HOME
  • SLOW
  • SIMPLE
  • FLOW
  • PEACE
  • FREEDOM
  • MARGIN
  • CHILDREN
  • HOMESCHOOL
  • BOOKS
  • FRIENDS
  • INTENTION
  • TRAVEL
  • JUSTICE
  • GIVING
  • ABUNDANCE

Living up to your family’s words is far easier than aiming for some random resolution that may be popular with millions elsewhere, but doesn’t fit your unique needs.

Find the words that relate to who you want to be–define them, focus on them, and achieve them in a peaceful 2011 with your loved ones.

This post is brought to you by Oak Meadow Curriculum and School, a curriculum that is making our family’s homeschool more purposeful. Check out their online curriculum samples covering grades PreK to 12th.

What purposeful words immediately come to mind when you think of your family?

About Jamie C. Martin

Jamie is an introverted mom of three, who loves books, tea, and people (not always in that order), and avoids answering the phone when possible. She co-founded SimpleHomeschool.net in 2010 and began IntrovertedMoms.com in 2020.

Jamie is the author of four books, including Give Your Child the World (reached #9 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers list), and her latest release, Introverted Mom (an ECPA bestseller). Her work has been featured by LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow, the Washington Post, Parents, Today Parenting, and Psychology Today.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Megan at SortaCrunchy

    I’ve been prayerfully selecting a word for the year since 2008. I’ve spent the last few weeks turning a few over in my mind, and I’m seeing confirmation of the one I am pretty sure I will choose for 2011 in your list.

    Thanks for this, Jamie. I am a HUGE fan of the word for the year concept!
    Megan at SortaCrunchy’s latest post: Links for 2010-12-23 delicious

  2. Rana

    This past year was a year of simplicity and it kept me on track trying to keep our eye simple and getting rid of things in our home that were not useful or beautiful. For 2011 I’m leaning more toward “slow and intention”. I’m still working on it with the family.
    Rana’s latest post: Snowy Days!

  3. I Live in an Antbed

    That is a great idea! I think for us: Being (versus doing), and Holiness. The Lord has really been speaking to me about the blessing of “Being” in His Presence, “Being” together, “Being in communion”, etc. And then, His call for us to hunger for personal holiness as a means to mature and purify us has captured my heart.
    I Live in an Antbed’s latest post: Reflecting on The Gift

  6. Cheryl

    Thank you for putting into words what my heart has been desiring! I have some narrowing down to do as many of the words in your list resonated with me and what I want for our family over the next year. Right now I am focusing on: home, slow, simple, and margin.

  10. Harmony

    I love this idea! I’ve also felt the Lord speak to me about a purposeful word for our family this coming year and due to the ups and downs of 2010 we have chosen “Unity.”

  12. Melissa

    This is exactly what we want to do with the families of our Sunday School students this year. When each family chooses their word, we’ll have them cut out the letters and glue them onto a picture frame.