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Family Life
The Christian Home Month Quadrennial Themes for 2001 - 2004 are the following: 2001, Families Called to Love; 2002, Families Called to Peace; 2003, Families Called to Justice; 2004, Families Called to Hope. As noted this year's emphasis is on Families Called to Justice. Perhaps we don't think seriously about how within our family life we teach the values which children carry into adult life, but we do. I am discovering as the parent of young adults that my children took it all in as they were growing up in our home and family. Would I have gone back and done some things differently or better? Yes, of course I would. There are many things we swiped over which we could have taken more time with. Now those days of rearing children at home are over for us and we are doing the same thing all over again with grandchildren. Perhaps we are wiser, gentler, more tolerant, but nevertheless still very serious about how children learn values, and morals and faith, and about loving our neighbors as ourselves, and helping each other, and tolerance and understanding and of course forgiveness and love.
All of these mentioned attributes of families and adults are under girded by the home where God is revered and the life of the faith community is intertwined.
Recently I heard of children who wanted to come to Sunday School but they didn't because their parents claimed, they were too tired having stayed up too late the night before. How sad that in many homes no bedtime discipline is practiced toward larger ends such as taking a child to Sunday School and introducing that child to the stories of faith. Many times during our children's growing up years we could have let the schedules slide, the prayers be skipped, the little things we did for neighbors pass by in the name of our schedule and our wants, or because we didn't want to.
In the month of May as we observe Family Month, the Festival of the Christian Home and Mother's Day let's remember that no matter what size or shape of our families, the instilling of those disciplines and values of faith and God are more important than almost anything else we do.
Letting children "decide for themselves," is a huge copout that parents, mothers and fathers, use to check out of the responsibility of being a parent. In the end they reap the whirlwind.
Your partner in parenting,
John LeGault
See When You Thought I Wasn't Looking on pg. 3,
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If you have any comments on any of these pages, please email me: Robert W.(Bob) Mckitrick, thanks.
Last update: May 3, 2003