Right now, pickup a pen and a piece of paper and write down the 10 things you value.

Stop. Write. Don’t think hard. Just write.

Now that you have your list ask yourself these questions:

Does your life line up with what you say is important?

Are your values reflected in your home?

Can your children, spouse/significant others, or friends tell you what you value? If no, then are you willing to do whatever it takes to reflect that those values are important?

My list of values include:

… promoting health

… fostering loving and healthy relationships with family & friends

… building character

… emphasizing faith

… modeling a heart of service

… demonstrating a strong work ethic

… having a spirit of adventure

… showing a willingness to learn and make mistakes

… recording my family’s stories

… prioritizing homemaking/organization

After writing these down, I felt good about some of these items on my list and convicted about others. For the most part, I know what I need to do to change some things in my home to reflect these values that I wrote down.

My sister recommended a book, The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time, by Laurie David. It is fantastic, and has really challenged me to see if my values and actions are in sync with one another.

The key message to this book is that family meals foster healthy eating and relationships. It offers many options for dual working families. And Laurie delivers her message without pointing fingers or making you feel ashamed and inadequate. Rather, I finished reading the book feeling encouraged and motivated. Powerful delivery.

So I am going to work on cooking meals at home for the next 30 days and create a consistent habit for our family. And I want to involve the kids in the process.
 

… I want them to help make great choices as to what they eat

… I want them to help me in the kitchen and enjoy different types of food

… And I want all of us to slow down, eat a meal together, and enjoy one another

Since I’ve started this blog, Jeff and I have been hit by some heavy grown up stuff. Really heavy. It’s been a difficult period of crisis mode where I’ve questioned everything I believe and value. I am no different than any of you. I struggle. But I am trying hard to move forward and will continue to do so. Our family will survive as we did through cancer.

Thank you so much for the emails, comments, Facebook messages, and Twitter love. I read everyone. I received 3 notes this weekend thanking me and my sister for our blogs and for “being real”. The timing was impeccable. Coincidence? Nah, I don’t believe in those.

So take some time and write and reflect on your values. And let’s keep on reminding each other that life is good. It is. It really is.