Family Council

Our family has been participating in the rice and beans subsistence diet since Sunday evening. On that very night, the children were all fighting over video games they are allowed to play on weekends. It was also the last night of vacation, so that made us all "edgy".

As the tone became louder and the kids began complaining about the games (whose turn it was), the rice and beans fare, and the piles of school work awaiting them, things finally came to a "head" when the video cable snapped off inside the TV! Thankfully, we use our 20 year old TV for the games and not the newer one! We called a "family council" to discuss the situation and find a solution to the fighting.

Family Council, is an idea that our eldest son developed when he was earning a Boy Scout badge for family life. We gather around the table on Friday nights and we use a "talking piece" to allow for one person at a time to express their feelings, frustrations and kudos to the others. We end each council by going around the table to ask how we can be in prayer for one another. It's a fine idea but often needs heavy intervention from the parents in order to stay on track and not devolve into personal attacks!

The result of this special family council was amazing! We decided that the videos and games were only causing problems. If we were giving up "extra" food for the week then we might as well give up "extra" TV time too! So, this week our family is eating a subsistence diet of mostly rice and beans. In addition, we've decided to give up television watching and all videos. After much discussion, we did allow for "educational" computer games on a limited basis.

The result? We are interacting more positively together. We have played almost every board game we own, we read together and talk about what we're reading, the children play outside when it's not raining and spent almost all of Monday afternoon playing Kuub (Swedish lawn game involving throwing large blocks of wood). We play music more often and not just because the parents have "guilted" the children into practicing. We dance together...well, some of us do and others just hang their heads and turn red.

The upshot is that as a family, we are rediscovering one another! While I would NEVER wish extreme hunger to visit my family, it is nice to know that those who live in want, are a bit closer to what God may have intended family relationships to look like. We fill our lives with the clutter of food, instant media navigation, large houses and lawns, "organized" activities for our children, and general overconsumption of energy resources. Simplifying our lives by even a fraction can clear out spaces and make room for God's miraculous power to cultivate new growth!

Rebecca Sommer-Petersen