I've been begging myself to write a mission statement for a while. But those four or five little guiding lines of text seem so daunting. I want something big, grandious, enveloping more than five lines of text.
Monday morning, the day after Christmas, I was awakened by a little lady with tears that would rival Alice in Wonderland, she could in fact have quietly cried her self an ocean. Leg cramps.
What do we do for leg cramps of this magnitude at 3:15 in the morning?
Throw them a party, of course.
Snacks and warm milk. Soft blankets, Christmas tree lights and two hours of Shaun the Sheep. We ended the early morning with our hearts righted, our legs warm and pain free and snuggling ourselves to sleep.
Isabel woke up at regular time but my old lady body (and brain) needed a bit more time to sleep. Eric snuck away with the kids on an adventure and I woke up, not fifteen minutes after they're departure to an empty house.
And I escaped three houses down to our favorite coffee shop for some thinking, writing, reading and a few of my girlfriends showed up for quick hugs as they grabbed their cup of joe.
And so in three pages in the quiet corner of the coffee shop, a Christmas miracle occurred-- a mission statement. Not a mission 'statement'-- really. What was it? A mission story? Mission bullet points? Mission land-use-planning-manual for my own life?
I named in those pages, the things I'm grateful for, the things I know make our days easier, I named the things that make life not easy. And I took an inventory of where I'm at. Spiritually, emotionally, physically and now I have an easy way to remember where I'm going.
It seems for me every season needs a manifesto. Perhaps if mission statement can be more than that. A life manifesto.
Do you have a mission statement? Some guiding principles. Things you know that help you on your journey?
*Photo captainmcdan
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