Are you the best husband or wife you can be? Are you the best parent you can be? Are you the best son or daughter, brother or sister, friend, employer, employee, volunteer you can be? Are you the best version of you? Last year, in our New Year’s Resolution letter, we asked you to consider creating various communities as part of your resolutions. And, if you are a consistent reader of OneFamily letters, you know [...]
Imagine giving birth to triplets. Then imagine raising them all by yourself because the father wanted no part of you or raising three young lives. To make matters worse, you receive no financial support and continue to have health related issues from the delivery of those tiny little babies. Imagine thinking you’ve just finished raising your own child and then your younger, heroin addicted, sister gives birth to two baby boys and doesn’t want them. [...]
Life is a journey, not a destination. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson Creating a thriving and vibrant family life is a journey. It is one that can provide fulfillment with meaning, purpose, and joy. However, it is not easy. It requires an intentional commitment to marriage and parenting that transcends many of the challenges and difficulties which inherently come from pursuing something meaningful. For this reason, we created OneFamily with Lis and Dave Marr. Our mission [...]
For the Howards, this is our favorite time of year. It’s a great time to reflect upon our blessings, enjoy many family traditions, and refocus our perspective on our life’s priorities. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year! However, in all that wonderfulness, it can also be the most stressful time of the year! Between Christmas shopping, decorating the house (Inside and Out), mailing out a billion Christmas cards, baking that never [...]
Is your family characterized by having an attitude of gratitude? When creating family identity do you cultivate and teach gratitude? Among the many reasons we love the Holiday Season, Thanksgiving to Christmas, is that it provided us a wonderful opportunity to build our family identity through family traditions that encouraged Trevor and Alex’s hearts towards internalizing the virtue of gratitude. Family Identity Through Family Traditions Cultivating family identity is an anchor for you and your [...]
With the election one week away, one thing is 100% certain. A lot of people are NOT going to be happy! And guess what? That’s ok. We all understand that disappointment, frustration, anger, and disillusionment are a part of life. But how we deal with these emotions, and manifest them, can critically impact our lives and the lives of our spouse and children as we mentioned in our Emotional Expression letter. Learning to properly manage [...]
Blah. Blah blah. Blah. Blah, blah, blah! This is the sound or noise that children, spouses, and friends hear when we try to communicate during times of conflict. Meaningful conversations and effective communication never occurs when people are angry, frustrated, exhausted, feeling defensive or mentally preoccupied. You cannot teach a child the principles of self-control while they are having a “level 10”meltdown in the grocery store. Nor can you discuss marital issues (parenting, finances, in-laws, [...]
There are a million YouTube clips showing babies, toddlers, young children and tweens imitating adult behavior, speech and attitudes. While some of these clips are cute or even hilarious to watch, some are very inappropriate when you consider the child’s age. It makes you wonder if some people are not aware that it’s their own behavior that’s being imitated. Last week, Lis and Dave addressed the issue of role modeling and shared some terrific insights [...]
We believe that the marriage relationship should be the first priority within the family structure... even before our kids! In today’s society, there is constant pressure to put our children first above EVERYTHING else in the family environment. This misguided prioritization can ultimately lead to child-centered parenting and even divorce. Don’t get us wrong. Our children are a top priority. And just because we prioritize our marriage before our children, that doesn’t mean they suffer [...]
The Howards are HUGE football fans! In fact, we’ve had Denver Bronco season tickets in our family since 1968. With the 2016 pro football season kicking off this Thursday (a Super Bowl 50 rematch!), we are reminded of a coaching philosophy that actually transcends many areas of our lives. It’s the idea of playing to win versus playing to not lose. In football, there is a particular strategy that some coaches use to protect the [...]