1. happiness springs of itself.”
Building Strong Families
Journal
“In a united family,
happiness springs of itself.”
Chinese Proverb
Is your family united? How can you help unite and strengthen your family?

2. What are the Secrets of a Strong Family?

3. Appreciation Frequently, short Appreciative of invisible work
Deuche’s Law – Behavior is Contagious
Don’t give up too quickly, it takes 4 weeks.

4. Affection Small touches (non-sexual)
Love Currency – understanding what it is for the other person and learn to give it.
Make you Love Currency explicit.
Gender differences and love currency.

5. Commitment They go with each other when one of them has an activity.
We should also tell them about our day – then we are sharing.
Commitment = How you spend your time and money.
The commitment is in writing – a mission statement.
Decide what you want to stand for. Start with one sentence.
Mission statements change as the family changes.

6. Time Together Quality time is a function of quantity time.
Peak experiences
Vacations
Camping
Continuous experiences
Eating together
Chores
Doing homework
The purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.

7. Creative Problem Solving
Strong families can solve problems in creative ways.
Happy families have the same number of arguments, but they have spaces filled with happy times.
It is ok to have problems, but the key is to solve them quickly.
The longer you are in an argument, the harder it is to get out. Why?

8. Communication
The goal of communication is by far more important than the techniques.
If my goal is to win….bad
If my goal is to understand or help….good
As we communicate, we need to be aware of our goals. If it is a good goal, our communication will go well.
Techniques are good, but tend to be mechanical. Say it in your own language.

9. Life is Beautiful Scene 8 Scene 24
End when train is leaving after Dora gets on.
Scene 24
To the end of show

10. Strengthening Family Relationships
State Requirement #8
Strengthening Family Relationships

11. Internet Building Strong Families Quiz