Deuteronomy 6:4-7 ESV
4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

The Word of the Lord has much to say about how we lead our families, treat our children and spouse, handle our finances, and, of course, whether or not we make the Lord a priority in our home.
I’m providing a template for you to do an annual check-up on the direction of your home, family, personal health, finances, and spiritual health.

Some of these talking points may not apply to you; if not, take what does apply and assess where you are so you can walk with confidence, knowing what needs to be worked on in 2026.

If you have any questions or if you need anything clarified, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Blessings,
Pastor Hanks

1. God First

• What scripture or portion of the Word stood out to me or us in 2025?
• What has the Lord been speaking to me/us about in 2025?
• Discuss your spiritual highs and lows.
• What were the areas of struggle, and what areas did I/we overcome?
• How can I/we improve my/our relationship with God?
• Review areas of ministry, service to the Lord, and to the House of God.
• Am I or are we still serving where we feel called to serve?
• Am I or are we drawn to something different?
• Did I/we have the impact I/we desired in the areas I/we served?
• What areas from the list above do I/we want to grow in or improve on?

2. Marriage Check-in

• If you’ve completed the Five Love Language Questionnaire, review your love language and note any changes.
• Acknowledge areas where your spouse has encouraged you and supported you.
• Identify friction points and recurring pain points.
• Address and resolve any outstanding concerns or issues from 2025.
• Intimacy check-in.
• Discuss ways you can better serve and show up for one another. Give each other equal time and allow your spouse to express themselves without judgment.
• Schedule (yes, right now) weekly or bi-weekly date nights and a family vacation.
• Discuss marriage goals for 2026.

3. Parenting and Children

• Review parenting style: point out what you love about each other’s parenting, then discuss areas each of you feels could improve.
• Discuss each child’s spiritual, emotional, educational direction, physical health, and needs for the coming year.
• Review your financial plan to address the current and future needs of your children.

4. Family Culture and Home Life

• Review and discuss your household's core values. If you haven’t identified your family’s core values, now is a good time to define them.
• Identify what your family did well in 2025.
• Discuss where you’d like to improve as a family in 2026.
• Reevaluate individual daily, weekly, and monthly family responsibilities (who does what).
• Review your family calendar. Busy families often sacrifice what should be important if there’s no order in your family’s calendar.
• What family traditions would you like to scrap, and which would you like to begin?

5. Health and Wellness

• Overall family health check
• Nutrition and eating habits
• Should we incorporate exercise into our family culture?
• Are we all getting the sleep we need? If not, what can we do to improve it?
• Are there any potentially costly medical needs that need to be addressed this year?
• How will we handle those needs?
• Time and Capacity
• What drained us in 2025?
• What energized us in 2025?
• Based on our discussion of these two items, what can we do to correct, change, cut, or continue strengthening ourselves and our family in 2026?
• Discuss which boundaries need to be strengthened, removed, or added for work and extracurricular activities.
• Discuss what a perfect weekly rhythm looks like. Make the necessary changes to achieve that rhythm.

6. Financial Health 

• Review your giving report from Hope Church. Does your giving align with your income? 10% tithing plus offerings is the biblical standard.
• Review your monthly budget, line by line.
• Review savings and investment goals.
• Discuss whether you need financial counseling.
• Is your life insurance portfolio strong enough?
• If you have debt, do you have a payoff plan? If not, create one.
• Review your retirement plan to ensure you’re on track with your goals.
• Make necessary changes to any area of concern.

7. Legacy Planning
Review the following items (as needed)

• Wills, trusts, powers of attorney
• Guardianship in the event of loss of life
• Beneficiaries on all accounts

8. Career and Professional Growth 

• Review your current career path and discuss whether you’re doing what you want to do.
• Review your current role at your company and discuss whether you’d like a change.
• If so, discuss the skill improvements needed to get there.
• Discuss costs associated with skill improvement.
• If necessary, discuss freelance or side work. Be sure to consider how it will affect other areas of your life.
• If you’ve never considered starting your own business, I suggest at least putting it on the table for discussion.
• After discussing the above points, if any changes need to be made or if there are any new endeavors being considered, set a goal for 2026 to accomplish what needs to happen to move you closer to your goal.

9. Community and Friendships

• Identify those who poured into you in 2025, including your children’s friend groups.
• Identify those who drained you in 2025. Include your children’s friend groups.
• Make necessary adjustments (prayerfully and carefully).
• Which friendships need to be intentionally cultivated?
• Discuss which boundaries should be set to protect your home's spiritual and emotional health.
• Plan opportunities for your family to minister to others by hosting them in your home.

10. Personal Reflection

• 2025 wins
• 2025 struggles
• Health goals missed, health goals going forward.
• Personal growth goals missed, personal growth goals for the coming year.
• Spiritual growth goals missed, spiritual growth goals for the coming year.

11. Wrap Up

• What kind of year do we want 2026 to be?
• What does success look like spiritually, emotionally, financially, and relationally?
• How do we want our family to feel and look at the end of 2026? What must we do to get there?
• What are your top five family goals?
• What are your top five personal goals?
• What are your top three spiritual goals?
• What are your top three financial goals?

(Note: give each goal a first step, and monthly or quarterly goals)