Ours is written in chalk, on a board that sits next to our dinner table, in the center of our home, where we see it every single day:

“Our family will strive to be an example of Christ’s love to the world. Our home will be a safe haven for people to experience the joy, peace, and generosity of our God.”

It has been a anchoring statement for our family life — not because we read it aloud every night like a recitation, but because it’s central in our home. On the hard days, it’s a reminder of what our goal is. On the good days, it’s a description of what’s already happening.

If you don’t have one, we would love to help you write your own.

Questions to help you write yours

Sit down with your spouse, or your whole family if your kids are old enough, and talk through these:

What do we want people to feel when they’re in our home? Ours is joy, peace, and generosity. Yours might be warmth, honesty, laughter — whatever’s actually true of what you’re building.

What do we want to be known for, even in small moments? What or who is central to your family? Love, kindness, hospitality, encouragment.

Who or what are we trying to reflect? For us, that’s Christ’s love specifically. For your family, it might be compassion, mercy, or justice.

What’s true on our best days that we want to be true on all our days? This is often where the real sentence comes from — not an aspiration pulled from nowhere, but a description of your family at its best, written down so you remember to keep striving for it.

Tips for actually writing it down

Keep it to two or three sentences. If it’s long, nobody will remember it, and a mission statement nobody remembers isn’t doing its job.

Write it in your own words, not borrowed language. It should sound like your family, not a sign from Hobby Lobby.

Put it somewhere you’ll actually see it. A chalkboard, a framed print, a sticky note on the fridge — the location matters less than whether you’ll walk past it daily.

Let it evolve. Ours has stayed the same over the years, but yours may shift as your kids get older and your sense of purpose and mission sharpens.

Why the dinner table is the right place for it

A mission statement isn’t meant to live in a drawer. It’s meant to be seen often enough that it quietly shapes things — and the dinner table, where a family actually gathers every day, is about as good a spot as any home has to offer.

Want to write yours tonight? Save this post, sit down together, and start with the first question. You don’t need the perfect sentence on the first try — you just need to start naming what’s true. Print off our worksheet for something more concrete.

If your family is looking for more ways to talk about what actually matters at the table, our printable dinner conversation cards include a whole Grace and Gratitude category built for exactly this kind of conversation.