My husband and I love talking about our dreams and goals at the start of each year. We work together on how we can support one another personally and also talk through our goals as a family. This helps us start the year with intention, both in our marriage and with our kids. 

It also helps us stay on the same page and work as a team for how we should invest our time and finances as the year goes on.

An important part of thinking through the year to come is considering each of our children and setting goals for them. One of my goals is to help each child with one goal I can help them reach. 

The family goal is something my husband and I work on together, and the goals for each child are something I evaluate depending on either their current needs or gifts.

For example, one of our daughters is dyslexic. Our goal for her last year was to learn to read. For her age, she was very behind in school. The stress of not being able to read was taking its toll. 

In order for us to help her reach this goal, we rearranged some things in our schedule, temporarily stepped back from a few commitments, and even homeschooled for a few months. This allowed us the family time and resources we needed to help her thrive. Thankfully, all our effort paid off and she is reading well and thriving in school.

Intentional planning helps not only my husband and I personally, but also helps us to consider each child and how we can best help them in the coming year. It also helps the family get behind one another with support. Sometimes support means helping each other take the first leap to start. Other times, it means help carrying one another across the finish line.

Want help dreaming big for your family? Below are questions to help you set family goals. Make time with your husband and dream big things for each other. Don’t forget to include your entire family. 

Let everyone know you are their biggest fan, and plan to make 2020 a great year filled with intentional growth for your children.

“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

Dream big with your family this year by gathering together and discussing these questions:

What values do you want your children to know before they turn 15? 

What goals do you have for your family for the next five years? (vacations, financial, behavior)

What are you doing each month to contribute to your family’s five year goals?

What are you doing each day to reach your five year goals?

What are a few strengths of each member of our family? 

Collectively, we are at our best when we are  (fill in the blank).

Collectively, we are at our worst when we (fill in the blank).

If we had a completely free day together as a family, how would we spend it? 

What are practical ways we can serve each other? 

What are practical ways we can serve others outside our family? 

Name three things we think we could do better as a family. 

What would people say today about our family as a whole? 

What would we like people to say about our family as a whole in thirty years? 

If our home could be filled with one emotion, what would that emotion be? 

Name three adjectives we would like people to use to describe our home environment. 

What are the top four priorities we want our family to value?

What is the main purpose of our home? 

What is the secondary purpose of our home? 

What is the individual purpose in life of each member of our family? 

What is one way we are unique as a family? 

Describe the status of our family in ten years … 

• financially 
• intellectually
• emotionally 
• relationally with each other 
• communally in our environment 
• physically 
• spiritually

   

Kristin lives in Huntsville, AL (or Rocket City as the Huntsvillian’s call it) with her husband Tim and two daughters. Kristin and her husband helped start Epic Church in San Francisco, Ca., and are now the lead planters of Essential Church in Huntsville, Al.  

While living and working in San Francisco, Kristin and her husband felt God calling them to Huntsville to start a church for people in the South who no longer believed church was for them.  She’s been married to her best friend and biggest fan, Tim, for ten years. Together they have three beautiful girls.

Before motherhood, Kristin was a Mary Kay director and an aspiring business woman. After years of hard work launching and maintaining a successful career, it all fell apart upon moving across the country. For years after losing her career, Kristin struggled with understanding her value and self-worth. She sought value in other titles, such as being a pastor’s wife, and then eventually a mom. 

Kristin now understands our value doesn’t come from the titles or careers we have. Kristin is a stay-at-home mom who seeks to give her children an ordinary, happy childhood. She seeks to find her value in Jesus each day and teaches her kids to do the same by teaching them scripture and letting them see how God fills our shortcomings. She has found her family’s gifts come to the surface when there is space for simplicity. She loves running, reading, writing, being outdoors, and hiking with her family.