Leaving a Legacy, Part I: Your Mommy Vision

Last week's meeting was a beautiful opportunity to remember and honor our friend LK, a MOPS of Quincy member who passed away at only 36 years old. LK's passing gave us all the opportunity to think about the legacies we will leave behind for our children. Or, as Cindy put it: How to move from the mundane to the meaningful. We leave a mark on our children in two ways: through the lessons we teach while we are here, and through the memories we leave when we are gone.

The first is intangible, and therefore easy to forget about. We've got to change that diaper, answer those emails, and get dinner ready -- it's easy to lose sight of WHY we are doing all these things. It's easy to lose sight of who we were before these little darlings arrived and took over our lives. It's easy to lose sight of what is IMPORTANT when we are constantly interrupted by something that is URGENT.

BUT HOW? 

A Mommy Vision. Craft a vision, a mission statement for yourself and your family, to help you focus your attention and keep your truest goals in sight. Once you've figured out your mission statement, it will be easier to become the mom you want to be: you will eagerly make decisions that are in accord with it, and you will resist going down a path that denies it.

A good Mommy Vision will prevent the mundane tasks of mothering from defeating and/or defining you.  The mundane will simply be the context in which you "press on" toward the fulfillment of your vision.

WHERE DO I BEGIN?

First, remember that your vision statement should be about you, not about the kids. "I will raise two selfless contributors to the good of the world" is about them, and nothing you do can guarantee that it will happen this way. Instead, "I will serve others from all nations, even if it stretches me" is about you and your actions, it can guide your decisions and give life to your values. Your children will learn it by watching you live it and, by God's grace, they just might live it too.

Next, think about the things that make you unique, the things you love, and the things you want to bring to the world. Cindy very bravely shared the evolution of her Mommy Vision with the group, and has allowed me to reprint it here.

My mothering story will be a page-turner for my children. (Cindy loves to read and write.)

My mothering story will be a joyful page-turner for my children.  (She is, I can attest, a joyful woman.)

My mothering song will be a joyful page-turner for my children. (Music and singing are an important part of their family life.)

My mothering song will be a joyful page-turner that proclaims God’s love to my children. (The most true thing she wants to leave her children.)

My mothering song will be a joyful page-turner that proclaims God’s love to my children, and others. (Serving others, and not just one's own kin, is part of what fufills Cindy.)

If you'd like to see more examples, or a list of questions to consider while crafting your vision, this post about family mission statements from Simple Mom or this free ebook from Inspired to Action may be helpful.

IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, YOU ARE LOST.

Now, once you've written your mothering vision statement, please share it with us in the comments. Thank you, Cindy, for sharing this inspiration with us all.