Monday, December 1, 2008

Family Culture

Kevin Galbraith gave a talk about strengthening the family in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, and he quoted a talk that was given in general conference a while ago. I will try to find the particulars of the talk (so I can verify this properly) but I wanted to ask your opinions on one of the comments he made. He said that research had indicated that one of the most important things that parents could do for their children, in order to raise their children to be faithful Latter-day Saints (in addition to prayer and scripture study) is to develop a "Family Culture" that is strong enough that it provides stability even in the turbulent teenage years. Specifically, the more people involved (cousins, grandparents, etc) the better. My question is this: In addition to what we are already doing, what more can we do to encourage participation in a family culture? Should we be doing more as a "Brown" family to facilitate cousins getting together or interacting? I think Cousins' Chronicles is excellent, but perhaps we could expand somehow on it. Maybe some of you have ideas that your in-law families do, or perhaps ideas that we could implement in our own homes. But I am concerned enough by the horrible state of the world that I would welcome any ideas or suggestions you have.

5 comments:

Ali Garner said...

I agree. It's to the point where I am actually scared to miss family prayer/scripture study/etc. I hope we can come visit soon, and you're always welcome here. I think our blogs are great, and we could just add more info, including sharing spiritual experiences. Maybe we could also share (on Findelmeyer) what our particular family traditions are (we have some special foods we make together - - smoothies, guacamole, and french toast, for example).

Anonymous said...

I think Ali's ideas are great. Let's share more traditions, etc. Maybe let's be better at getting the kids to write thigns to each other on Cousins. More something they look forward to reading every Sunday or somethign. I'll think more about this...

Virginia Brown said...

This is Dad, not Mom replying. I think that if we all had goats and chickens then it would bring us all together. In addition to that, we could share scriptural or spiritual insights and outlines of talks we've given, etc.

Ali Garner said...

Dad you crack me up. I really wish we could have some goats and chickens here but I'm afraid that our neighborhood (and the golfers) wouldn't go for it. Also Scott might not be too thrilled either. Sigh . . . But I do like the idea about passing along talk/lesson ideas and info. I love you!

kimandval said...

I believe his talk probably derives (at least in part) from Steven Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families." Covey talks about "family cultures." Maybe we could check out that book and see if it has other suggestions.

We're all for goats and chickens, too.