Family Verse

Two years ago we dedicated Gianna at our church and next month we will be standing in front of our friends and family and dedicating Jensen. When we called to meet with our pastor we assumed that what we would discuss would be much of the same as what we did with Gianna. However, this time when we were getting ready to leave he challenged us as a family to find our "Family Verse."
I haven't really ever thought of a family verse before but Daniel and I thought what a cool thing for us to find together. And now, that Jensen has completed our family and he is being dedicated, its also the perfect time to find it.
A family verse is something of a family motto that either describes or embodies what your family stands for or perhaps what you strive for in everyday life. Almost like a coat of arms made up of scripture. I loved the idea but didn't really realize what a challenge it would be. How do you sum up what you want to teach your children or what you want your family to embody in one verse of scripture?
At first I started going through all my highlighted favorite verses in my bible and that just seemed to be kind of cheating. Also, none of them really stood out or spoke to me...maybe because I had read them so many times but either way I knew I had to go about it another way. Daniel and I had talked about characteristics that we felt we had as a family and I looked those up in the index and read related scripture. That didn't really work too well either. Than one day after doing my daily devotional I flipped to the next page and read the short book of Colossians.
I have read Colossians before but this time the whole book just spoke to me and then...I found our verse...it just lept right off the page at me! Daniel and I sat and read it together and it resonated with both of us. Simple and perfect for us. "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17.
Seems silly but I was really excited to find it and now am even more excited for our family to find ways to utilize it and apply it. Such a simple task and yet it spurred so much thought and discussion within ourselves and our family. I appreciated the challenge and know we will cherish our new family verse as another one of the many and awesome traditions we are starting as a family.
So now, I challenge you if you haven't already, to sit down and find your family verse. If you find one, I'd love to hear what you decided on.