A family culture is drawn from a definition of who our family is and how we live based off our core principles, but it really is those daily family habits that will help set the tone of our culture. Let’s dive into some family habits examples, broken down by category, to help you find new ideas on how to build your family’s culture.
Faith Family Habits
Incorporating faith into your family’s culture helps keep your family connected to the things that matter most. Help your family move beyond just a faith on Sundays and what this looks like to integrate into the rest of life with these family habits:
- Create a prayer routine list so you have specific topics to pray for each day. Assign a family member to lead each day.
- Build a Sabbath habit of intentional rest. Consider even doing a device or social media Sabbath day to disconnect.
- Pick a theme verse for the month that everyone memorizes or that can be used during family meetings.
- Have a regular testimony time where your family can share what God is teaching them and celebrate and encourage each other.
- Keep the commitment to pray for every family member each week. Send a text with prayers, make a shared document with requests and how God answers, or other creative ways to make this an engaging practice.
- Practice blessings that you speak over your family and others.
Connected Family Habits
To build a strong family, you need to set a foundation of connection. These tools are the way people not only grow deeper but can find ways to repair and restore even when connection has been broken. Look at these family habit examples to grow connection:
- Choose a special meal together in a timeframe that works for your family’s current season. (ie. A weekly Saturday dinner, a quarterly family retreat, etc.) Make it a space to put away devices, share stories, and celebrate wins.
- Set a family storytelling habit where you can all regularly participate and practice telling family stories and talking about those lessons. (Sign up for our guide here on identifying & sharing your family’s stories)
- Establish a family check-in routine in the frequency that works for your family’s current season. What questions will you ask to stay up to speed with each other?
- Pick intentional goals for your family each year that you can progress on together and discuss.
- Find habits to serve together. It can be as big as volunteering somewhere or as small as little practices around the home, but make it an intentional effort.
- Build a habit for celebration so you have space to share good news and accomplishments. What things will you do to honor each other? How will this occur and when?
Committed Family Habits
Your family culture will be defined by what you commit to as a family, but it can be easy to lack intentionality in this area. Use this category of habits to keep your family on track for what your family identity is.
- Choose a cause that your family will invest in. It doesn’t have to be just money. It can be time or skills that you have as well to be generous with.
- Assign leadership opportunities in your family to allow your family to practice key roles regularly. (ie. Prayer leader, generosity planner, family dinner, etc.)
- Set regular intervals to review and evaluate your family communication. Having regular touch-points where your family knows they can share ideas and concerns is a crucial habit. (Need help getting started? Steal from our guide here on family communication styles. )
- Take regular breaks as a family. Build a family habit around what it means to disconnect, rest, and reset together.
- Establish practices for how you repeat your mission, vision, or other guiding principles as a family. (Stated at dinner, leader assigned to text to the group, etc.)
- Create habits to support your family’s ongoing growth. Are there classes to attend, books to read, mentors to meet, etc? Make learning and growth a natural part of your family habits.
Family Habits Build the Foundation
Through these three categories, you are well on your way to building successful family patterns. As a next step, consider picking 1 or 2 habits from each category that you can work on implementing as a family, or meet as a family to discuss ideas and make them your own. Family habits will continue to iterate through your various seasons so embrace that opportunity. Think of it like the mortar for your foundations.
Keep going deeper with other family resources at legacystone.com/resources