Why Kids Need Family Reunions
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[0 Comment]If the idea of a family reunion conjures up visions of lukewarm potato salad and a horde of relatives you've never met, it's time to rethink what it means to connect with your extended family. After falling out of favor for several years, family reunions are once again becoming a popular way to discover ancestral roots and pass on a legacy of faith.
Concentrated time with those with whom you share a common past can inspire your whole family to think about the memories you want to leave behind. So before you dismiss the idea as just one more commitment jamming up your summer calendar, consider these four reasons to get the gang together.
1. Kids Can Connect to Something Bigger
Most of us live at least a short distance from our extended families. And while that can sometimes be a blessing, it can also create a sense of rootlessness in our lives, not to mention the lives of our children. According to Kenneth Phillips, a Christian psychiatrist in suburban Chicago, "The tendency for jobs to define the part of the country where people live subtly scissors family ties. Reunions are a means by which siblings who no longer live near each other (or their parents) can maintain regular contact and fertilize their family tree."
Steve Roskam's family is typical. He and his four siblings are scattered around the country. Steve, an Illinois physician, lives near one brother and their folks. He has one sister in Seattle and another one in rural Pennsylvania. Another brother lives in Indianapolis.
Roskam and his family have worked hard to remain close, despite the distance. "My parents did an outstanding job ingraining a sense of family in us," Steve recalls. "They passed on an astonishing legacy of what it takes to love each other and serve the Lord. Our family was very close growing up. But distance and time apart take their toll. Like many families, we were destined to grow apart unless we became proactive."
Eleven years ago Steve convinced the Roskam clan to gather for three days on the youngest sister's farm in Rogersville, Pennsylvania. They rented a nearby bed and breakfast, played with the kids, shared meals, and just hung out together. They had such a great time, they decided to do it again the next year. When the second gathering was also a smashing success, the Roskam "Highlife Reunion" became an annual tradition.
Even if your reunion involves only your parents, siblings, and their families, such a gathering can create bonds and memories that will help your children feel connected to something beyond your family unit. It will give them more opportunities to receive the kind of love and care that only family can offer. It will help them discover more about who they are and where they came from. If your family shares a common faith, it will give your children a sense of the depth of the beliefs you are working to instill in them.
Originally published in: Christian Parenting Today
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