Very Special Gift

I came home to this early Mother's Day surprise on Thursday:



The picture doesn't do the beautifully framed artwork justice, but this, my friends, is a commissioned piece. A bright, thoughtful, and talented student in our college group created an original family crest featuring our family mission's statement upon Jake's request. It is so detailed and wonderful. My precious husband had it framed for me. Ladies, he picked out the frame, matting, glass, etc... all by himself. Guys, he's available for consultation.

A few months ago, I mentioned that Jake and I wrote a family mission statement. It was really more of an exercise for us to help guide our family, but of course we shared it with the boys. Luke committed it to memory immediately. That's why I think his Native American name would be "Steel Trap," but that's another post entirely.

Why would we create such a statement? Because it means something to be a Stum:

"We are a GREAT family committed to Christ in prayer & study. We desire to model Him to each other and the world."

• Gratefulness - being great starts with being grateful
• Respect - our words & actions should honor one another
• Excellence - our best effort is expected
• Adventure - we are safe to go beyond the map
• Teamwork - we are not complete without the uniqueness of each other

An acronym was not at all our goal, but as we distilled a long list of qualities we wanted to pursue and already characterized our family, these 5 emerged. These are the principles we hold ourselves accountable to because we believe family is God's hope in this world. If you are one of us, you are loved unconditionally, celebrated often, and fully expected to contribute to the Kingdom and each other. You are also required to laugh at each other's jokes, offer original ones, listen to dad's music, and learn to eat potato chips according to mom's patent-pending almost silent method.