Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and
ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will
find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' (Jeremiah 6:16)
- Healthy Families Prioritize Family
We talk more about supportive families than supporting the family. Our society is interfering with the
family-first feature. There just doesn't
seem to be enough time to get together. We
may promise over and over to visit and to spend more time together, yet we seem
to find less and less time to do so. When families do get together, the result is a
rapid attempt to solve problems rather than enjoying and getting to know each
other. If your family does not come
first, your family will not last.
We are in familial bankruptcy and have fallen into the hands of
receivers such as schools, businesses, recreational pursuits, and numerous
institutional demands. The issue is not
one of setting priorities; the issue is one of making difficult choices for the
family. There can only be one number
one.
- Healthy Families Have a Tolerance of
Failures
The family should be a forgiving place. It is the one place in our life where we can
receive unconditional acceptance for just being us. All families have their real characters,
those family members who have idiosyncrasies that can stretch patience to its
limit. Even at the most difficult times,
the family is the place where we can be forgiven, accepted, and given a fresh
start. My uncle may be crazy but he is
my uncle.
- Healthy Families Look Alike
When a family forms, something biological happens beyond the biology of
conception and birth. Families are not
just social institutions but physiological processes shared by all of the
family members. Something biochemical
happens when families live together over time. Each family member's physiology begins to
mirror the physiology of other family members. Being family means becoming more and more
connected with one another on every level of our humanness.
- Healthy Families Share Life Together
The family system is uniquely designed to help solve the problems of
daily living. The family is a soul center.
It is the place we learn what everything
means and how to make everything meaningful. Within the family system are multiple
generational resources, an appraisal system of life based on the history and
circumstances of each family. These
provide the ability to rally around a family member having trouble coping. Whether we like it or not, we bring their
work, school and life problems home with us. The family is the place where problems must be
taken for appraisal, for solving. If the family does not have answers, we will
turn outside to have our needs met.
- Healthy Families Empathize
Someway, somehow, families develop a special sense for and of one
another. They can feel one another and
sense when something is going wrong. There is such a thing as "FEP," or
family extrasensory perception. It isn't
mystical or parapsychological at all. Such
perception is simply the result of caring deeply enough about others to take
the time and make the effort to really see them, to feel "us.”
- Healthy Families Have a Spiritual Core
Everybody needs a place – that place must be a place for persons, for
unique, growing, changing, creating, generating persons. It must be a place where the Christian faith
is lived and transmitted; where faith
becomes the primary dynamic that shapes values and relationships; where parents
become priests of their children. Passing
on the faith is by example and heart. It
is caught more than taught. The old adage, The family that prays together stays
together is a truth too few families have experienced.
Scripture to Claim:Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. … Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up. Deuteronomy 6:1-2, 4-7
