Having my own family, husband and kids has always been a part of my dreams and prayers. I have been blessed with a caring and loving husband and an adorable son. I have been married to the same man for 3 years 6 months and 1 day and have been a mother for 1 year, 9 months and 29 days. Now that I have my own family, what is next? Well, just like most of my endeavours, being successful on this field is one of my hearts desires. So how does one’s family life become successful? Lucky me, I came across a magazine article that briefly discusses some of the secrets of having a successful family life. I must admit, I agree with most of what was written.
Let me share you the secrets:
1) The right priorities. They had a good discussion on this one but what hit me the most was this “It is easier to say that we put family first than to show it” with the words say and show highlighted. Very true. How many times have we seen and heard people talk about how they “prioritize” their family and yet their actions are entirely the opposite?
2) Commitment. This is no surprise because without it I’m sure couples, me and my husband included, have long given up on each other especially during the times when we didn’t want to meet halfway on certain things. It makes you stay. It makes you stick to the one person you love day in and day out. Love without commitment is useless. I was just struck when it also mentioned that sometimes we may not walk out “literally” but we still walk out on our spouses on some forms like, “stony silence” during times of argument. Bulls-eye! Well, it’s never too late.
3) Teamwork. Need not elaborate on this. Raising our son alone needs a lot of teamwork. I can’t imagine raising our son and not working with my husband in the process. It would be so chaotic!
4) Respect. Respect begets respect.
5) Reasonableness. According to the article this involves giving one another allowance for mistakes. It also compared being reasonable to a careful driver that is prepared to yield in cases of emergency.
6) Forgiveness. I totally agree that there should be a handful of this in the relationship, not only in the marriage but also with parents to children. In this very imperfect world, the least that we can do is to be forgiving of each other’s faults. Life is too short to keep on grudges and hurts.
7) Firm Foundation. Each family founded in the love and service of Christ will definitely be successful.
If I am to compare the age of our family to the others, we’re still considered as a toddler. We still have a long way to go but it is refreshing to come across such articles that reminds us and helps us take care of the more important things like family. 30 or more years from now, I would love to read this blog and see for myself if I was successful in raising my family.
