For some dads, keeping families healthy and strong takes more than
we have to give. Or, does it?
I'm Bill McCartney... It's 4TH and Goal!
Building a great family is maybe the hardest job on earth. Every
family is different, and every family changes from day to day as kids get
older along with their parents. But, a study just released offers
some great advice for all of us.
After interviewing 14,000 families over 26 years from all 50 states
and all economic and race categories, plus all types of family structures,
the authors of the study found six characteristics that strong famlies
share, things that we can aim for in our own families. Those characteristics
are commitment, appreciation and affection, positive communication, time
spent together, spiritual well-being, and ability to handle stress.
Commitment. We men need to be so committed to our wives that
our kids can't miss it, and we need to be committed to being in our kids'
lives on a daily basis. We need to appreciate and be affectionate with
our wives so that our kids see it all the time, and we need to compliment
and love our kids so often that they would never doubt it. We all know
how easy it is to be critical of our wives and kids without ever saying
anything positive. We need to say a ton of positive things to every
negative thing we say.
We need to spend time together - time alone with our wives, time
alone with our kids, and time together as a family - so that they know
how important they are to us, and how much we care. We need to practice
our faith together with our families, sharing our belief in God with them,
and letting them see that our lives have been changed as a result.
And, all of these things, most of all our faith, will come into play
when we are faced with stressful situations. Do we yell, scream,
swear, and treat our wives and kids with disrespect? If so, then
we may lose all the ground we gained in having practiced the other five
characteristics. Six family traits worth immitating. Good advice,
worth remembering, and worth following in our homes.
I'm Coach Bill McCartney.
Source Material: Youth Today February 2001.
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Copyright (c) 2000 Promise Keepers.
4th and Goal - Coaching for Life's Tough Calls, with Bill McCartney,
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