It has always been a family custom to have engaging family outings. Therefore there is always family meetings at someone's house. Most of my family lives in Florida so we travel from one end of Florida to the other and from coast to coast. We honor our elderly family members by having birthday parties in their honor in which as many family members that can attend, do so. We have children from different homes visit during the summer in order to give another parent a break and for the 'cousins' to get to know each other better. Last year my sister got married and we had 5 generations of family members in attendance. Here is a picture of the wedding party. As you can see-there is 3 generations in the picture alone.
During these family outings we always have certain foods. The main dishes are fried chicken, collard greens, yams, macaroni and cheese, corn bread, lima beans, and ham.
The relationships and food are important parts of our family culture but the one thing that we enjoy most is that we have a firm foundation in the Bible. We always have prayer, a scripture reading from the Bible at every meeting. When possible we attend church services together. There is a quote that we say
A family that prays together, stays together!
(Author unknown). We always keep God in our lives.
Therefore the three items that I would take with me if I had to go to another country as a refugee is my Bible, a family photo, and my mini tablet. The one thing that I would keep is my mini tablet because I use it to store my pictures, music and to read my Bible as an installed application. I feel that I could always look at my pictures, listen to music and read my Bible even in a foreign land but still be reminded of my fond memories of my family.
Hi Janine. What a ‘beautiful’ wedding picture you included in your blog and I know how much your family relationships mean to you - - it’s priceless and nobody can tell you any differently. In the Philippines, the majority of people are Catholics. I believe our cultures, ethics, morals and values place a huge impact on the way we are raised and the way we raise our children. You have a large, beautiful family and Thanks for sharing. Jay…
ReplyDeleteJanine,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful blog post and it is wonderful to see how your family is bonded together by prayer, birthday parties, family gatherings, and scripture reading. You can tell a lot about a person and their culture from the commitment to their family. Melissa
Janine,
ReplyDeleteThat was an awesome post!!! You have a beautiful family. The mini tablet is a wonderful idea to store all of your family memories and most important be able to read the Bible. Thank you for sharing your post.
Chere'e
Thanks for the comments Jay, Melissa, and Chere'e
ReplyDeleteHi Janine. First of all, I love your Blog Site! I really enjoyed reading your blog this week and looking at the beautiful pictures you included. Reading your blog brought back many memories I treasure. Family relationships, food and a firm foundation in the Bible are important parts of my family culture, as well. I think it’s great that your family has children from different homes to visit during the summer in order to give another parent a break and for the cousins to get to know each other better. It’s obvious you have a caring and considerate family. Great Post! Martha
ReplyDelete