3 Practical Tips for Building a Happy Home

3 Practical Tips for Building a Happy Home

Entrepreneurs spend countless hours investing in building a successful business. As important as it is to invest in your business, it’s even more important to invest in a happy home. After all, a home is the place you come for refuge and relaxation after a long day of work.

And your home is your first ministry; it is where you do your most important 'work'.

Below are three key components - and practical tips - to creating a happy home that you and your loved ones love to be in.

1. Set the example & be the role model.

Don't be a hypocrite :). (ouch! I know :), but it's a reminder to myself as well!)  If you teach your children one thing and live the opposite way, you’re not communicating a positive message to your children. When it comes to raising children, more is “caught” than taught.

They will 'catch' your values and behavior more than they will listen to what you teach.

The best way to instill Christ in our kids is by setting a positive example. Model positive living and the fruit of the Spirit to your children.

There are limitless ways you can do this. Below are just a few:

• Let your kids see you reading your Bible each day
• Model service by serving in your church on Sunday mornings
• Show kindness in your words and actions
• Deal with any sin in your life and model faithfulness
• Pray for and with your children
• Be the same person on Monday and Saturday as you were Sunday at church
• Don’t let unwholesome words come from your mouth.  Watch your words, and what you watch.
• Talk through decisions with your children to help them understand the why behind your choices
• Apologize when you make mistakes

Listen, you will make mistakes as a parent, but you and your children can learn from those mistakes. Make sure you’re doing your best to model the behavior you want to see in your kids. Show them how to live with both your words and your actions.

2. Build a unified, loving relationship with your spouse. 

Your children will learn so much about love, marriage, and family by observing your relationship with your spouse. Studies have shown that children who come from divorced families are twice as likely to experience divorce themselves. On the flip side, children who grow up in homes with loving parents are more likely to create a loving family themselves. 

Even though raising your children will take a lot of your time and energy, it’s important to continue to invest in your relationship with your spouse. Even if date nights do not always happen with regularity, it is important to steal away for small moments with your spouse. 

No matter how busy you are or what demands parenthood and business bring, you need to prioritize time with your spouse. When you spend time together, you build a loving relationship and are more unified as the parents of your household. This unification helps you model and make decisions that benefit your family. 

By building a healthy and loving relationship with your spouse, you create a loving atmosphere in your home. Children are some of the first ones to pick up on tension within the home, making it extremely important to deal with conflicts as they arise.

3. Establish a great culture at home. 

Take time with your spouse and children to create a Family Mission, Vision, and Values. I love a Family MVV as I call them.  In a business, these things work together to create a great work culture. At home, they ensure a unified vision for what a good home life will look like.

A family mission also helps your family to see their place in God’s kingdom and our world. Your family’s mission may differ from mine. What are some key things you’re discerning about your family’s mission? How do the missions of your individual lives work together to build a unified mission?

Ask the following questions to find out your family’s mission:

• Why does your family exist?
• What value does our family bring to our community? To the world?
• How do you faithfully live out God’s calling as a family?

Discerning your family’s mission may develop over time. As your children get older and have social lives outside of the home, your family’s mission may evolve.

Your family’s vision and values will be determined in a similar way. Take time to think about what virtues are driving forces in your family’s life.

Living with the fruit of the Spirit isn’t just about showing your children that you live out what you believe. These virtues listed in Galatians are a guiding force for many. Your family’s values may be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Perhaps, though, one or two of those virtues are of special significance to your family.

In my family, our values are RESPECT, being KIND and RESPONSIBLE, and also having FUN!

Once you’ve reflected on what vision and virtues drive your family, write out what those things look like in your family’s daily life. For example, you might write about how peace is a virtue of your family, meaning that all disagreements are meant to be discussed openly in the interest of fostering peace.

Your family’s exact mission, vision, and values will differ from other families. However, taking the time to define these can create a great culture at home.

I want to know.  Do you have a family mission, vision and values? Let me know.  Also, what are some of your challenges when it comes to building the home you desire?  Please let me know. Email me here or DM me on instagram.  I truly look forward to hearing from you so I can continue to address issues that matter to you. Email or DM me!