Reclaiming Family Life

by Bruce Strade, Chief Operating Officer, Lutheran Community Services Northwest

This is the time of year when everything seems to shift into high gear. School, church, sports, work, etc., all make demands on our time. The family tends to get what is left over. To counteract this trend, there is a movement afoot that is dedicated to putting Family Life 1st. The following is taken from its web page:

Family Life 1st is a group of citizens building a community where family life is an honored and celebrated priority. The democratic theory underlying this work is that the families can only be a seedbed for current and future citizens if they achieve a balance between internal bonds and external activities. This balance has become gravely out of whack for many families of all social classes, and retrieving family life requires a public, grass roots movement generated and sustained by families themselves.

Vision: A community committed to family life 1st

Mission: Family Life 1st is a group of citizens building a community where family life is an honored and celebrated priority.

Desired Future for Families:

  1. Families make family time and family activities a high priority in their decision-making.
  2. Families set conscious limits on the scheduling of outside activities, in order to honor the values they hold about family time.
  3. Families set limits on television, the Internet and other electronic media if these are dominating family life inside the home.
  4. Families seek out ways to participate together in activities that build and serve their communities.

Desired Future for the Community:

  1. Schools, faith communities, neighborhoods, and other groups provide families with resources to develop deeper bonds in a fragmenting world.
  2. Schools, faith communities, neighborhoods and other groups offer regular intergenerational activities, so that whole families can participate.
  3. Community activity groups of all kinds have explicit working policies that acknowledge, support, and respect families decisions to make family time a priority.
  4. Employers have explicit working policies that honor families' time and energy needs.

Web page for Family Life 1st: http://www.cyfc.umn.edu/FLF

Family Values is provided as a public service by Lutheran Community Services Northwest.
Watch for new Family Values articles at www.lcsnw.org

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This article is meant to be used for informational purposes only. It is not intended as clinical
advice or to take the place of consultation with a counselor or other mental health professional.