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Women Living Well Blog: 21 Rules of the Harris House

Women Living Well Blog

Friday, September 10, 2010

21 Rules of the Harris House

I always enjoy hearing how others run their household. A while back I posted the Duggars House Rules. And today I want to post Gregg Harris' House Rules.


Who's Gregg Harris? He is the the father of seven children, among whom are, Joshua Harris, author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Joel Harris, Director of the Northwest Academy of Worship Music, Alex & Brett Harris, founders & co-hosts of TheRebelution.com web site, and three others still in their younger years. He is an evangelist and local church-planting pastor. Gregg is internationally known as a pioneer advocate in the Christian home-schooling movement and author a best selling book, The Christian Home School.

So here are their very wise house rules!

The 21 Rules Of This House
by Gregg Harris

1. We obey God.
2. We love, honor and pray for one another.
3. We tell the truth.
4. We consider one another's interests ahead of our own.
5. We speak quietly and respectfully with one another.
6. We do not hurt one another with unkind words or deeds.
7. When someone needs correction, we correct him in love.
8. When someone is sorry, we forgive him.
9. When someone is sad, we comfort him.
10. When someone is happy, we rejoice with him.
11. When we have something nice to share, we share it.
12. When we have work to do, we do it without complaining.
13. We take good care of everything that God has given us.
14. We do not create unnecessary work for others.
15. When we open something, we close it.
16. When we take something out, we put it away.
17. When we turn something on, we turn it off.
18. When we make a mess, we clean it up.
19. When we do not know what to do, we ask.
20. When we go out, we act just as if we were in this house.
21. When we disobey or forget any of the 21 Rules of This House, we accept the discipline and instruction of the Lord.


I find these to be helpful as we focus on a number of these in our own home. In my quiet time I have been praying the book of Proverbs over my children. I so long for them to be wise...but of course as I pray over the family, I see that I too need more wisdom in my own life.


Today, I read in Provebs 10 and verse 21 stood out to me. It says "The lips of the righteous nourish many." As we train our children, we don't just want to have a list of rules they follow but rather we must nourish them. This includes words of praise, gentle instruction, joy and peace. Nourish your children today. Build them up. If there are issues you need to deal with, work on one issue at a time so as to not overwhelm them or yourself! Look for progress not perfection. Spend time enjoying them and nourish them in the midst of training them up in righteousness.

Do you have house rules? Please feel free to share them in the comment section. I'd love to see them or hear how they work!


Walk with the King!


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17 Comments:

Anonymous A. Yoder said...

Thank you for this post!! I tend to forget about enjoying my kids! And look for Perfection! (The reason is selfish, I don't want to be embarrassed by their bad behavior!)

September 10, 2010 at 7:31 AM  
Blogger Traci Michele said...

These look great Courtney! Thanks :-)

Love,
Traci

September 10, 2010 at 7:32 AM  
Blogger Kelley with Amy's Angels said...

I looked at the rules and thought, "these are great--even if you don't have kids!"

:)

September 10, 2010 at 8:56 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Such great rules! Thanks so much for sharing!

September 10, 2010 at 9:32 AM  
Blogger Kristi said...

Good post! Our children get easily overwhelmed, so we keep it simple. We list the scriptures Ephesians 6:1 and Matthew 7:12...followed by our 6 rules.
*Don't do anything without permission

*You will obey the first time you are asked or told

*Answer with respect (yes mommy, yes daddy, yes sir, yes ma'am)

*No fighting or arguing

*Treat everyone and everything with respect

*Do not do what you KNOW is wrong. Ask yourself the 3 R's...is what I'm doing responsible, respectful, and righteous?

ATTITUDE IS EVERYHING!

I do agree that we need to remember to enjoy our kids too and not always focus on perfection. Enjoying them is what forms bonds between us and them, that are so needed for getting through the teen years!

September 10, 2010 at 9:50 AM  
Blogger Lily said...

I have read some of their writings before, and I do have the homeschool planner you mentioned (for years now!!) Thank you for the reminder, these rules are a common-sense approach to parenting. Every now and again it is good to remind ourselves about our vocation and to renew our purpose.

~Lily
www.neverfadingwood.blogspot.com

September 10, 2010 at 10:44 AM  
Blogger Sarah said...

I really enjoyed those rules. Some of them are unspoken rules that would be good to make clear that it is a rule for our home. We don't have rules but I do have a couple of statments I plan to use more as the kids grow up...Struggle and emerge, respond and become, be intentional.

September 10, 2010 at 10:49 AM  
Anonymous Lizzy said...

I made a list of guidelines that were simple and easy to remember, since my kids are 6 & under. It's an acronym for FAITH:
Follow God’s Word
Always Obey Mommy and Daddy
I say I’m sorry
Tell the Truth
Have a Happy Heart Attitude!

September 10, 2010 at 2:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love those! And I love the ideas from the pp as well. I'm going to have to come up with some for our house.

September 10, 2010 at 5:25 PM  
Blogger Brandi said...

I have used those very same Harris rules in my house. :) Seems like so long ago that I ordered that book, and now I have a child who's old enough to have read Do Hard Things by the Harris twins. My how time flies!!

September 11, 2010 at 12:44 AM  
Blogger Courtney (Women Living Well) said...

Kristi Lea - thank you for sharing! I like these!

Lizzy - I LOVE your acrostic! Fabulous!
Much Love,
Courtney

September 11, 2010 at 11:54 AM  
Blogger The Ketelsens said...

Love these rules! I am thinking about adopting then for the elementary youth group I lead at church.
Thanks for the post!

September 11, 2010 at 1:19 PM  
Blogger Crystal said...

We are using these during our Bible time! I have been looking up verses to go along with them as well! That way the kids know they aren't 'just rules' but based on what the Bible says!

September 11, 2010 at 3:42 PM  
Blogger Kim said...

Oh, I love the Harris family. Just got back from taking the youth from our church to the Rebelution Tour. Those young men are great examples of a true walk with Jesus!

September 12, 2010 at 2:37 PM  
Anonymous Mrs. O said...

These are really aweome, I will be borrowing them for sure! this is our first year homeschooling and my boys are all pretty young we don't have a formal set of rules in print yet. Thanks for sharing!

September 13, 2010 at 12:19 AM  
Blogger Cher said...

Thank you for posting these. I think you probably know the Mama of the household of these rules (and mighty men of God) passed away this past year. Sono Harris. You can see photos/posts about her on Joshua Harris' page. This link has a sweet (tear-inducing) poem written about her by Brett Harris--posted on his blog this month although she passed in the summer. Oh, to leave a legacy like she did is my prayer.

Cher

September 13, 2010 at 3:09 AM  
Blogger Cher said...

ps here is the link:
http://www.joshharris.com/

September 13, 2010 at 3:09 AM  

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