St. Therese Young Families Finishes “Fireproof”,
Begins “Parenting”
By Marcy Stenstrom
Several weeks ago, the Young Families Group completed the series “Fireproof Your Marriage”. In the first session, the group of five couples watched the movie “Fireproof” starring Kirk Cameron. In the film, Cameron plays a firefighter captain named Caleb who sacrifices his safety and his life to save others. His personal life is quite the opposite. He doesn’t get along with his wife and they both refuse to do anything remotely kind for one another. Soon, tempers flare and divorce papers are being discussed. Caleb doesn’t want a divorce but he can’t understand why his wife doesn’t respect him. He has venting discussions about this with his Dad throughout the movie. His Dad gently points to Caleb’s own stubbornness to love and acknowledge God and what He has done in his life. Eventually Caleb has a “light bulb” moment and decides to carry over his firefighter mantra, “no man left behind”, to his personal life; to sacrifice and expect nothing in return.
If you haven’t seen this movie, it has a very good message despite the low budget acting performances. Looking beyond that, our group focused on a “Fireproof” workbook guide for couples and used a Catholic pilot study supplement from the Diocese of La Crosse. In addition to group discussions, homework allowed couples to share and communicate more openly and intimately.
This month, after a short break, the Young Families group met again for a new series entitled, “Parenting: The Early Years”. This will focus on ten biblical traits that parents should want to know to gain success at being a parent. The authors of the series are Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott, a husband-wife team dedicated to mentoring marriages and parents to create sustaining, healthy families. Les is a clinical psychologist and Leslie is a marriage and family therapist. Together in “Parenting: The Early Years” they look at what it takes to create a healthy home for the children. You can learn more about their books and programs on their website www.realrelationships.com.
What I already found interesting is that the families that they follow in the video sessions are not “perfect”. All of the families are struggling day to day in some form whether it is a separated marriage, divorced family, families with stepchildren and half siblings, and families who are struggling because of a job loss or feeling strapped for time. I think that we can all relate in some way or another to the parents in these sessions. It is good to know that we can learn from these difficult times presented to us and learn from our mistakes to make the best choices we can for our children’s future.
Our next “Parenting” meeting will take place in the New Year on Monday January 4th from 6pm to 8pm in the youth ministry room across the street in the school building. Although we have completed several sessions, you may inquire about joining future sessions or future Young Families ministries programs by contacting Steve Martin, our director of Youth and Family Ministries.