Tuesday, November 07, 2006

A joyful family

My friend Maria shared a sad article today.

She also, however, shared some quotes of hope.

I particularly liked the one below and so I stole it for our family....

To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others. Pope John Paul II

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is one of my favorite quotes from JPII...and it's not a popular concept that parents are in service to their children :-) nor is it easy!

Leonie said...

I agree sabine - and I like the quote so much that I now have it on the fridge as part of our refrigerator strewing. :-)

Anonymous said...

Ladies,

That's my favorite quote of his as well and one he modeled so beautifully.

I've been thinking alot about disciplining my children lately and the example of JPII is always one I consider.

He was so gentle and so loving.

How do I mirror that?

Leonie said...

Its a challenge, isn't it?

One thing I like to do is to try to consciously smile more - smiling makes me feel happier and makes me nicer and the kids respond to a smile better than to a frown ( oh, so does dh! :-) ).

Anonymous said...

I agree, Leonie. One thing I remembered today was how much playing and silliness help inspire good behavior as well. Maybe a better way to say it is that it releases tension and silliness can prevail and problems are solved because the tension is broken. Kwim?

I think I used alot of prepositions to make that point.

Leonie said...

I take your point Maria - soemtimes play and silliness are important.

Actually, in the Fundamentals of Homeschooling, Ann Lahrson-Fisher lists four habits of learning - and play is one of them. Maybe it is also a habit important in relationships?

Anonymous said...

Leonie,

I read this quote to my dh today and we've decided to adopt it as our family motto!

Yippee!

Leonie said...

WTG!

As I said - We have it on our fridge for our "current" quote...