Building a family relationship

HERE I am again, trying to “catch up” on time. With a talk to prepare and deliver this Saturday, and a Friday afternoon deadline to submit an article for this column, let me try to hit “two birds with one stone” again.

I thought it would be easy writing and talking about building a family relationship, as it is a topic close to my heart, but I faced a blank screen in my computer. It was a good thing my children were around. So I asked them for inputs.

They shared me so many ideas that started my mind working. Now I have to process my thoughts and make them concise.

To build a strong family relationship, we can think in terms of an acronym
U C C, which is a favorite coffee brand of my wife, next to McDonald’s coffee, of course!

UCC for Understand, Communicate and Celebrate.

Understand

If we can be interested in all that our family members believe in, like, and do, that would be ideal. But each person is unique. We all have our own beliefs, interests, preferences, likes and dislikes. Thus, we have to accept this fact, and try to understand one another. This requires patience, wisdom, and sacrificing of our will. As St. Francis of Assisi said, “Lord, make me understand, rather than be understood”.

Communicate

It is almost impossible for us to communicate with our thoughts. We have to communicate with words and actions.

Express your care, concern and love, in all ways, and at all times possible.

It is usually the consistent acts of thoughtfulness and care expressed in small things that add up to the building of a good relationship.

Tokens of appreciation and love, need not be big or expensive.

The big things and expensive gifts are often times showy, and at times even interpreted rightly or wrongly, as pretentious.

Nowadays, we call and text, email, chat online, use skype, viber, what’s app, etc. These are all useful means of communication and can be used to the max. However, there is still no substitute for presence.

Celebrate

To sincerely “Celebrate” is a visible expression of gratitude!

We celebrate for various reasons. We can celebrate alone, or better still, celebrate together. And the best reason for coming together is to jointly express thankfulness.

We celebrate the gift of life. We celebrate having food on our table. We celebrate achievements and successes. We celebrate having a family and having good family relationships.

My Dearest Co-Parents and My Dearest Children,

One key to happiness is a grateful heart. Counting our blessings and sharing them make the world a better place to live in.

In all things, we give thanks.

As the Bible says in 1 Thes. 5:16: “Be joyful always. Pray continually, and in all circumstances, give thanks, for this is God’s will for you, in Christ Jesus.”