Marriage Monday: Marriage Mission Statement

The only thing better than me achieving my goals is us achieving our goals together. We just created a new Marriage Mission Statement to help us achieve our goals in retirement.

Why Have a Marriage Mission Statement?

My husband, Bruce, recently retired. Only we’re not calling it “retired” because that sounds like going to bed to me, aka “retire for the night.” We are not going to lay around and do nothing at this time of our lives. So we are calling this period of time, “Act II.”

In a play, Act II is usually shorter than Act I. But Act II is where all the resolution and redemption happens. This is the most important act of the play. That’s how we look at retirement. The most important time of our lives. Not a time to lay on the beach and play canasta. It’s a time to use the skills and experience we gained from Act I and use them to give back, to live on purpose, and to continue to thrive.

We both enjoy achieving goals. Why should we stop now? Being on mission as a Christian is important to us. We want to continue to persevere through life, growing more like Jesus, and leaving a legacy behind us that is encouraging and thriving.

One of the ways we will do this is by writing and following a mission statement.

Our New Mission Statement

We had a mission statement years ago, it was simply a verse from the Bible that we felt was our main goal in life, 3 John 4.

I have no greater joy than to see my children walk in truth.

3 John 4

Our kids are Jason and Robin, and I believe we picked this mission statement when they were about 14 and 9. We had recently made decisions to follow Christ, and we were keen to make sure our kids learned the truth of the Bible so it could guide them through life.

Now that we are entering Act II, we felt it was time to create a new marriage mission statement. The one we chose is based on a different Bible verse, Psalm 92:14.

They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.

Psalm 92:14

What’s Next in Intermission?

We chose the phrase Stay Fresh to summarize our mission. We created a board that listed words that we felt described how we intend to Stay Fresh. That board will be placed where we can see it every day, to remind us about this important time of life.

I mentioned that we are calling retirement Act II. But, for us, Act II hasn’t really begun yet. Between the acts of a play there is intermission. That’s where we are now.

When you think of intermission, you think of getting up from your seat, getting a drink, visiting the restroom, talking to people. But for us, intermission is behind the curtains, in the dark, moving sets and props and figuring out where all the pieces go. Sometimes it feels like we are stumbling around in the dark a little bit. But we know that Intermission is temporary, that we will make adjustments, and get the stage set for Act II.

It’s an exciting time for us, and I will be sharing more about it as we go. One of the tasks we had on our list for Intermission was our new Marriage Mission statement. We’re so glad to check that off the list. More to follow!

…because U count, deb