Family Meetings

We spent many years as a 'broken family'. That's what divorce does. It takes the way it's 'supposed to be' and turns it into something else.

Surviving under those circumstances takes creativity. Being a low-income head of household, sometimes working outside the home forty-plus hours per week, it was important to me that there be designated 'family time'.And so it was that, once a week, we had family meetings. We opened the meeting with The Serenity Prayer. "God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

We had a chairperson and a secretary to take the minutes of the meeting. Attendance was required.

The format included:

Opening Prayer

Secretary Reads Minutes of Last Meeting

Treasurer's Report

Old Business

New Business

"Is there anything you Need?"

"Is there anything you Want?"

Close with Lord's Prayer

I loved those family meetings. I love them now. The old notebooks that I've saved for thirty-five years always bring a smile to my face when I haul them out. Some day I'll share the innards with you.

Each child had a voice. Each child was heard.

Broken doesn't always mean less than. Broken can also mean more than.