Welcome to Week #1 of our Say Yes Series!! There’s nothing wimpy about being a mom. It takes work: hard work. The proverbial woman is described as a woman who “sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.” In short, she is a woman who is clothed in strength and boldness for the work set before her. As a mom, you know this already. It is hard work!

When I first became a mom, I had no idea what I was doing: I just did it. Sound familiar? Many of us just think that once that baby is born I will be SUPER-MOM!! And for a while we even tend to think we are… *ahem. Then our child gets older, and we have more children. We begin to feel overwhelmed, stretched, and exhausted. In the meantime, we have acquired many other responsibilities in our lives, and our world is over-crowded, with every minute of every day accounted for. The joy of motherhood begins to feel like the job of motherhood.

But let’s be honest ladies; sometimes we can add unnecessary weight to our work as moms! How? By failing to use one very simple word. The word NO! Maybe you are the yes, okay, sure, uh huh mom too? I want to encourage you today tired mama that it is okay. OK. to. say. no. It’s OK because saying no is actually saying yes. It’s saying yes to the ones that need you the most right now.

So how do we say yes?? And what does it mean to say no? What should we say no to? Where is the balance? As we go through this series we will learn how to have the Right Picture, the Right Priorities, and the Right Perspective as moms, and through this we will learn to say YES! Today we start with the Right Picture. What does it mean to have the Right Picture?

My husband told me a rather comical story from his childhood recently. As a fourth-grader, he and his friend had stumbled upon his friend’s dad’s hunting bow. With a few failed attempts behind them, they finally mustered enough strength to fire an arrow nearly 40 feet in the air. Much to their surprise the arrow leaned just to the southwest and landed with great confidence on the neighbor’s roof. It didn’t exactly hit the bullseye! :)

When we talk about having the right picture, we’re really talking about the bullseye. It is the target that you as a parent are aiming at. It is the goal or mission of your work as a mom and family. Could you describe what the “bullseye” or mission is for your family? This is such an important place to start because this mission statement will help you as you set priorities, and will help you to know when to say yes.

We are going to have a challenge each week to help us put in to action what we are learning. The first challenge of the series, is for you to take some time and write a clear and simple mission statement for your family, your family values, and your family verse. This is your “bullseye!” It is the mark that by God’s grace, you are trying to hit. If you are wondering where to start in creating your mission statement, Stephen Covey has a GREAT free online tool to help! This will take some time, but it is so worth it. Do you already have a mission statement? Take some time to look it over, and see if there are any changes you may need to make. As you are finishing up your mission statements, or if you already have them, I would looove to see the creative ways that you have displayed them for your whole family to see in your home (because I need some ideas! ;)). Please share them, and I will pick a few of my favorites to feature on the site.

Here is our family's mission, values, and verse. We have made them very simple so that we as a family can know and memorize them.

The Schwenk Family Mission:

Our mission is to be a family who passionately loves God and sacrificially loves people.

Our Values:

Time, Fun, Eating Together, Ministry, Learning, Health

Our Verse:

“Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

- Matthew 22:37-39

Good luck creating your mission statements!! I can't wait to see them! Next week Joy will be writing on how to have the Right Priorities and we will dive a little deeper into creating your own personal mission statement as a mom. See you then!

***Joy from Gracefull Mama and I (Ruth) are thrilled you have joined our "Say Yes" Series! Be sure to grab the button below (you can grab the html in the sidebar) and put it in your sidebar. On Twitter we will use the hashtag #YESmoms!***

******************************************************************

Friends I am so excited to start our Better Mom Mondays Link Up, which will be every Monday from now on!!! Join the fun by adding your blog, and by checking out all of the others listed!! Don’t forget if you join below -please add the Better Mom Mondays Link Up button to your post so your readers can find us here! (Posts can include the topics of mothering, marriage, homemaking, discipleship, recipes, organization and more!) You can find the html code in the sidebar, or "save as" copy, and paste the button below.