Five Minute Family – Family Camp Session #1

TRANSCRIPT: Good morning, Five Minute Families. Thank you for joining us this morning’s Five Minute Family. If you would like to know more about Clear View Retreat, the sponsor of our time with you, please check out more information at clearviewretreat.org.

An article I read this morning referred to this period in history as “The Great Pause.” How apt a descriptor. The Great Pause. As we discussed last week, many families are seeing so many positives of this forced slow down. The Great Pause is giving us each a chance to reflect on what we really want out of life. Here is a quote from the article:

“From one citizen to another, I beg of you: Take a deep breath, ignore the deafening noise, and think deeply about what you want to put back into your life. This is our chance to define a new version of normal, a rare and truly sacred (yes, sacred) opportunity … to only bring back what works for us, what makes our lives richer, what makes our kids happier, what makes us truly proud. … We care deeply about one another. That is clear. That can be seen in every supportive Facebook post, in every meal dropped off for a neighbor, in every Zoom birthday party. … we want to define — on our own terms — what this country looks like in five, 10, 50 years. This is our chance to do that, the biggest one we have ever gotten. And the best one we’ll ever get. We can do that on a personal scale in our homes, in how we choose to spend our family time on nights and weekends, what we watch, what we listen to, what we eat, and what we choose to spend our dollars on and where.”

With that profound thought in mind, this week, and for the three weeks following, we would like to introduce you to each of the four sessions for a Clear View Retreat Family Camp weekend. We begin by encouraging families to take time to reflect on who they are. Each individual family member affects the others deeply. We are experiencing life together, which means we have a family identity.

Think for a moment on what your family likes to do together most. Do you play basketball (and those who don’t play love to watch and cheer you on)? Do you enjoy play board games together? Maybe your family acts, gardens, blacksmiths, crafts, travels… well, you get the idea.

How would you identify your family?

Having a family identity that allows us to look at each other’s uniqueness and still weave a story of togetherness is important. We don’t want to just take up space together. Remember Ephesians 4:16 applies to families, too: “From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.”

For example, our family… we are the Nestles. Our children are identified throughout our different communities as “the Nestle Boys.” We all love StarWars. But, maybe, like us, it will be hard at first to see what connects you together. The first time we had this discussion with our boys, they could not see a common thread. As they listed their own individual interests, we realized that we are each creative, though in different ways – AND supportive of each other’s creativity. So, we called ourselves The Creative Family. A couple we know call themselves geeks because they love movies and plays and reviewing those things together. They share a large portion of their family story by identifying as movie geeks.

Here are five questions you can ask to start figuring out what your family identity is:

  1. What big family story we do we all like to tell?
  2. What do we like to do together?
  3. What do we all have in common?
  4. What traditions do we each enjoy?
  5. What do other people think of when they think of our family?

Be sure as you have this family discussion time, you focus on making sure everyone gets to share their opinion without judgment. (Remember our communication model and listening spot from a couple of weeks ago)

And, write the different ideas down. You don’t have to decide on a family identity immediately, but this will be a good start.

As “The Great Pause” continues, please join us next week as we continue to explore the parts of family life we want to take into our future.

May God bless you and your family this week as you focus on Him and His purpose in your lives.

~Originally aired on WECO 95.5 fm/940 am Tues, April 14, 2020~

Sorry, comments are closed for this post.

Five Minute Family – Family Camp Session #1

TRANSCRIPT: Good morning, Five Minute Families. Thank you for joining us this morning’s Five Minute Family. If you would like to know more about Clear View Retreat, the sponsor of our time with you, please check out more information at clearviewretreat.org.

An article I read this morning referred to this period in history as “The Great Pause.” How apt a descriptor. The Great Pause. As we discussed last week, many families are seeing so many positives of this forced slow down. The Great Pause is giving us each a chance to reflect on what we really want out of life. Here is a quote from the article:

“From one citizen to another, I beg of you: Take a deep breath, ignore the deafening noise, and think deeply about what you want to put back into your life. This is our chance to define a new version of normal, a rare and truly sacred (yes, sacred) opportunity … to only bring back what works for us, what makes our lives richer, what makes our kids happier, what makes us truly proud. … We care deeply about one another. That is clear. That can be seen in every supportive Facebook post, in every meal dropped off for a neighbor, in every Zoom birthday party. … we want to define — on our own terms — what this country looks like in five, 10, 50 years. This is our chance to do that, the biggest one we have ever gotten. And the best one we’ll ever get. We can do that on a personal scale in our homes, in how we choose to spend our family time on nights and weekends, what we watch, what we listen to, what we eat, and what we choose to spend our dollars on and where.”

With that profound thought in mind, this week, and for the three weeks following, we would like to introduce you to each of the four sessions for a Clear View Retreat Family Camp weekend. We begin by encouraging families to take time to reflect on who they are. Each individual family member affects the others deeply. We are experiencing life together, which means we have a family identity.

Think for a moment on what your family likes to do together most. Do you play basketball (and those who don’t play love to watch and cheer you on)? Do you enjoy play board games together? Maybe your family acts, gardens, blacksmiths, crafts, travels… well, you get the idea.

How would you identify your family?

Having a family identity that allows us to look at each other’s uniqueness and still weave a story of togetherness is important. We don’t want to just take up space together. Remember Ephesians 4:16 applies to families, too: “From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.”

For example, our family… we are the Nestles. Our children are identified throughout our different communities as “the Nestle Boys.” We all love StarWars. But, maybe, like us, it will be hard at first to see what connects you together. The first time we had this discussion with our boys, they could not see a common thread. As they listed their own individual interests, we realized that we are each creative, though in different ways – AND supportive of each other’s creativity. So, we called ourselves The Creative Family. A couple we know call themselves geeks because they love movies and plays and reviewing those things together. They share a large portion of their family story by identifying as movie geeks.

Here are five questions you can ask to start figuring out what your family identity is:

  1. What big family story we do we all like to tell?
  2. What do we like to do together?
  3. What do we all have in common?
  4. What traditions do we each enjoy?
  5. What do other people think of when they think of our family?

Be sure as you have this family discussion time, you focus on making sure everyone gets to share their opinion without judgment. (Remember our communication model and listening spot from a couple of weeks ago)

And, write the different ideas down. You don’t have to decide on a family identity immediately, but this will be a good start.

As “The Great Pause” continues, please join us next week as we continue to explore the parts of family life we want to take into our future.

May God bless you and your family this week as you focus on Him and His purpose in your lives.

~Originally aired on WECO 95.5 fm/940 am Tues, April 14, 2020~

Sorry, comments are closed for this post.

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