“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.” Proverbs 3: 3-4

Here at Firmly Planted Family, our mission is to help families flourish like the “trees planted by streams of water” in Psalm 3. Given the spiritual and cultural climate of the day, this is no small task. The family is a cornerstone of culture—and the devil knows it.

It’s the main reason why strong, godly families are so important—and it’s also why the family is under attack. 

The enemy would have us fail in faithfulness through laziness or a lack of integrity, but where there is faithfulness to God’s principles, blessing abounds. 

My grandparents understood this. Through a long faithfulness lived out over many years, they instilled in me a love for community and a passion for education. It was my grandmother who took us out of public school and gave us a reasoned explanation for why education was never neutral. (Boy, was she ahead of her time!) Even though my home was very dysfunctional (my parents eventually divorced), my grandparent’s example of faithful marriage helped me and Jay create a healthy, loving blueprint for our own marriage. (Thirty-five years and counting!) In fact, their faithfulness is still having an impact today. If you’re blessed by the work we do at Firmly Planted Family, it’s due in part to the faithfulness of my grandparents. 

If you’re actively parenting—that faithfulness will look like doing the same thing over and over at times. Long faithfulness means going to work to provide for your family. It’s making meals—and yes—doing laundry.  Faithfulness means teaching math lessons (over and over), faithfully providing discipline, love and forgiveness and pointing your children to Christ, even as you learn to follow Him yourself.

In Proverbs 3, Solomon reminds us that we will be blessed if we remember to bind “love and faithfulness” around our neck. When we’re faithful to the Lord, it will be obvious to others because our lives can’t help but reflect it. Christ-like behavior is an adornment of spiritual beauty, and the fruits of faithfulness are a byproduct of a heart that is surrendered to Jesus Christ. 

Faithfulness is lived out in a life of integrity.

By His grace and mercy, we will live lives of a “long faithfulness,” and one day—our grandchildren will be telling His story to a generation yet to be born.

For Christ and The Next Generation, 
Heidi St. John
Chairman of the Board
Firmly Planted Family