Family Principles

In Andrew's and my "Scripture Principles for Marrieds" class and our "Marrieds Dinner and Seminar" that we've been attending, we've been counseled to create a Family Constitution. So, for Family Home Evening one day, we started it.
"So, what rules should we have in our home?" I asked Andrew.
"I don't think we should start with the rules," Andrew disagreed lightly. "We can come up with a long list of rules and not necessarily get anywhere. It would probably be more beneficial to create a list of principles that we want to found our family on."
Although I was, at first, puzzled on what he meant, I agreed. By the time we were done, I was feeling the Spirit strongly. We're still working on the wording on some of these, and we may add/change some of the things on this list, but I would like to share what we came up with:

“… Establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning,
a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;” –Doctrine and Covenants 88:119
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            The goal of our home and family is that all of us may return to our Father in Heaven that we may be an eternal family. As such, through the guidance of the Spirit, we establish these principles that our home will be founded upon whereby we may obtain this goal.

            The first principle of our home, and in our lives, is that our family comes first. The Godhead stands as the center stone of our family. Our family is God first, our marriage second, and our children next.

            All important decisions will be made in council and family decisions are made by the whole family. All family members that can be at the meeting should be; we invite God to meetings through prayer before starting. The decisions we make will not be made on a “majority rules” concept, but on a basis that it will give each of us a chance to learn to seek revelation on what God wants us to do.

            We do things the entire family can participate in; if one person shouldn't do it, no one should.
E.g.: As parents, we will not stay up late watching movies the children shouldn't watch. This does not mean that if a baby is too young to participate that we cannot play a board game as a family.

            Ours is a home of celebration. We will rejoice in each other’s accomplishments and achievements. We have traditions to strengthen, fortify, and build-up our family bonds, and to make life more enjoyable and fun.

            Our home is a place where we feel safe and comfortable, and we feel comfortable inviting others. Because God is a part of our family, He needs to be present in our home. We must keep an atmosphere wherein the Spirit can reside.

            Because the world tears us down, ours will be a home that builds up ourselves, each other, and others. We encourage and help each other be the best we can be.

            We talk, spend time, and listen to/with each other. Because God is family, this means the rule applies to Him, too. We talk with, listen to, and spend time with God through prayer, scripture study, the temple, seminary/institute, etc. We express love to each other, and show our love to each other through our actions.

            We will “seek diligently and teach one another words of wisdom” and “seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” – Doctrine and Covenants 88:119

            Our family works together and finds opportunities to serve each other and others. All of us work hard to contribute to following the principles that have been established, and each of us does our part. Because we serve each other and God is family, we must allow God to serve us by receiving His aid through priesthood blessings, prayer, and so forth. We will ask for priesthood blessings not only for “emergencies.”

            We will obey the will of the Lord and the law of the land. We will see God’s counsels as God’s commandments.

            Rules are not arbitrary – they must be and will be based off of family principles.

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“Choose you this day whom ye will serve: …But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15