Running head: Couples Mission Statement 1
Couples Mission Statement
Anissa Chambers
Liberty University
Dr. Deborah Pinkston
October 11, 2019
Couples Mission Statement 2
Couples Mission Statement
Therapist’s Overview
Proverbs 29:18 (MSG)
If people can’t see what God is doing,
they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals,
they are most blessed.
Goal of the Exercise
1. To help couples define a general common purpose.
2. To help put together a reminder of the purpose.
3. To help premarital couples to establish roles for their marriage so they have realistic
expectations.
Types of Problems This Exercise May Be Most Useful For
Couples experiencing empty nest
Couples who have been through infidelity/affairs
Pre-Marriage
Couples with lack of direction for their lives and marriage
Suggesting For Processing This Exercise With The Couple
1. What is a mission statement?
2. How might a mission statement help you with setting goals and/or making decisions?
3. How would you know if you are sidetracked from your mission?
4. How and/or where would you post this mission to remind you?
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5. What are some things as a couple you can do to stay the course and remain on mission
together?
When entering a marriage covenant every couple should talk about family, sex, realistic
expectations, finances, faith, raising children, boundaries, responsibilities, jobs and purpose.
Expectations and Core Vison: As you plan this joining together what are some of the main
expectations you want to see from your partner? When looking at those expectations are they
reasonable and realistic? Do you each share the same vision and mission for your marriage? It
is something you need to talk about together and often because life has a way of distorting those
ideas (Worthington, 2005, p.61).
Boundaries in Marriage: Yes, there are boundaries in marriage, just that most people do not
take the time to examine them. We all grow up thinking about roles and expectations from our
partner, but rarely do we consider their expectations from us. It is important to understand what
each others strengths and weaknesses are and to help each work with in those areas so we can
continue to put our best foot forward. It does not mean that we can’t grow in our weaknesses but
understand what they are. It is another area where we can seek first to understand before being
understood.
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Creating The Marriage Mission
Exercise
Proverbs 29:18 (MSG)
If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend
to what he reveals, they are most blessed.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 (MSG)
And then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that
it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for
the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its
way. It will come right on time.
How to do this exercise.
Listed below are some things and activities people value. If there are some things that are not on
the list feel free to add them below, make sure they are important to your mission and not a
bunny trail. Using the numerical chart add the number to each question that best describes your
ideal regarding the question. Please be as truthful as possible because it is in your truthfulness
that you are creating expectations within your partner as well. Do not put false truths up just to
please someone, be REAL.
1. It’s essential or fundamental.
2. It’s anticipated and desired.
3. You can take it or leave it.
4. Absolutely not!
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Go through the following questions each of you individually and then discuss them together.
_____ Daily Alone Time _____ Date Night
_____ Spending time with personal friends _____ Scheduled intimacy
_____ Spending time with other couples _____ Cleaning schedule
_____ Personal hobbies _____ Children’s education
_____ Disciplining Children _____ Saving for retirement
_____ Helping with homework (children) _____ Buying/Owning our home
_____ One on one time with the children _____ Personal health and fitness
_____ Attending Church _____ Health insurance for the family
_____ Family Dinners _____ Sex (how often)
_____ Helping kids with extra activities _____ Family Vacations
_____ Cooking and eating at home _____ Spending time with parents
_____ Being active in political/civic groups _____ Parents “get away” weekend
_____ Stay at home parent _____ Family game nights
What conclusions do you believe from the choices made?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
From these conclusions what differences came up that you can now anticipate?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Sit down with your partner and discuss what you have learned and together write a paragraph
and describe the things that are most important to you as a couple. Do not worry about specific
details but be general so that you can create a mission statement of purpose.
Our mission is to provide a loving, supportive and safe atmosphere in which we and our children
can grow and explore what God has for us. We understand that it is going to take
communication, compromise, sacrifice and balancing what is best for us with what is best for the
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family. Through Jesus we can choose to walk in love and forgiveness as we endeavor to do life
together allowing the joy of the Lord to be our strength.
Purpose
The purpose of this exercise is to open lines of communication so that when you are
doing life together you can refer to what you talked about. Understand that life is crazy
sometimes and so you will need to walk this out with hope, trust and sometimes sacrifice.
Summary
“Couples Mission Statement” worksheet is a recreated worksheet called ”Creating a
Mission” from the .(Schultheis, O'hanlon, & O'hanlon,
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2010). The purpose is to help couples walk together in unity and/or rediscover who they are as
they move forward.
The original worksheet really had nothing to do with allowing God to help you in the
process of coming up with your mission statement nor did it recognize His authority in the
marriage. The worksheet fills in some of those gaps and has some added things that I felt was
important in the discussion or what is important to the couples. The weakness is there are always
things that are important to each couple and is impossible to list all. This is why we encourage
them to add those ideas as they go.
One of the best ways to waste time is to not know purpose or vision. You just hope along
the way you get it right. God is a God of purpose and everything He does is on purpose. He
created each of us with purpose as well. He calls us to make the most of our time her so that He
can use us individual and as a couple. The Bible says, “Therefore see that you walk carefully
[living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not
as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], making the very most of your
time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom
and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil. Therefore, do not be
foolish thoughtless, but understand firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians
5:15-17, Amplified Bible).
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References
Schultheis, G. M., O'hanlon, A., & O'hanlon, B. (2010).
(Second ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Worthington, E. L. (2005).
(Expanded pbk ed. ed.). Downers Grove, Illinois, USA: InterVarsity Press.
