FUITFULNESS

Healthy families produce good results because they have the needed mixture between organized and organic family life. These families have the planned moments to bring them together such as an evening meal, holiday gathering, or family outing. These organized gatherings take some planning so we can relax and enjoy the unplanned conversations, games, and family fun that come. These organic moments bring joy and life to our families.

For families to be healthy we need to be doing both. If we rely too heavily on the …. 

  • organized, it becomes stilted, predictable, overly planned, and makes the time together feel rather plastic and unreal.

  • organic, these moments rarely happen because there is nothing there to create the opportunity for the life-giving interaction we enjoy. It’s like a blob on the floor with no structure to move against, shape, or do anything with.

When we get the mix right, the family thrives, good fruit is produced, and memories are made for a lifetime. At future gatherings we tell the stories of what  took place and relive those treasured moments. Talk about fruitfulness; it feeds us in the moment and in the future!

In reality, the healthy family works because they have the 3 Key Components (introduced in the November Newsletter) required for a group of people to enjoy life together. They have the…

  • PARADIGM - the structure needed to do the activity;

  • ETHOS - belief/value system to keep them focused on the right things; and

  • PRACTICES - the needed activities to give opportunity for the stuff memories are made of to happen.

Organizational Key Components.png

People need to understand the connection between the organized and organic in a group so they can maximize the potential fruit that can come.

The more intentional people can discuss them the more of an impact they have on the fruitfulness of the group. Those who are a part of the group need to be able to talk about them both formally so everyone knows what is being discussed, and informally as they find their ways into normal routines of life-on-life conversations.

Of course, we don’t mean the actual words of paradigm, ethos, and practices but rather the descriptions of what these are in real life for the group.

  • What does the group believe and value? (ethos)

  • How do we accomplish what we believe? (paradigm)

  • What are the things we use or interface with to share them with one another and others who may not be part of the group? (practices)

The more we are able to do this the more apt we can actually accomplish what we set out to get done. In other words, whether we know it or not, these three components of PARADIGM, ETHOS, and PRACTICES help us determine if we are going to be fruitful or barren.

David Bennett