Standards, Goals, and Resolutions - Standards

<p>Good morning, Five Minute Families. No matter where you in your ACTIVITIES of festivities this time of year, take a moment to breathe deeply and remember that every moment of every day is about Jesus Christ. Remember, He loves you, right where you are.</p><p>Once the Christmas festivities have ceased, folks will begin thinking about what the new year will bring. Let’s discuss the concept of New Year’s resolutions and what we suggest this year instead (and why).</p><p>But, first, let’s define three important words:</p><p>Standard - a required or agreed level of quality; more easily understood as the acceptable normal</p><p>Goal - the object of a person's ambition or effort; this is your aim or desired result</p><p>And, last, Resolution - a firm decision to do or not to do something</p><p>These three words are not the same yet so often are used interchangeably. Today, let’s zoom in on standards.</p><p>As the writer at MidAmerica Martial Arts stated, “Let's first discuss the difference between goals and standards. Standards are rules and guidelines; benchmarks that are the minimum level of effort and achievement expected daily. They are the norm. Goals are a result of some concerted effort; a place or level of proficiency above where you currently are.” </p><p>Thus, if your family has low standards, no amount of goal-setting or resolution-making will be successful. In business, standards can only be maintained when the people of the business share the same expectations. The same applies to family standards. As Philippians 4:8 states, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” We must discuss together what standards we want to have in our home. Do we have a standard of excellence?</p><p>My standard for what has become acceptable in my average day of managing our home and how I organize homeschooling has dropped dramatically