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10 Ways to Have a Strong Family Bond

It was a rushed and hurried afternoon. Playing the role of the frazzled mom, I had precious little time to finish the laundry before starting dinner.  Yet despite my growing to-do list, my littles begged for entertainment and crafts. Honestly, I wish I could say I rose above the distractions that vied for my attention. I wish I could report that we had a beautiful family afternoon and strengthened our family bond.

However, the day went downhill from there. All three of us ended the day frustrated and irritated.

Basking in the hushed sounds of a sleeping house, I was plagued with a deep sense of regret.  While bad days do happen and chores need to be done, I didn’t want the kids to remember my busyness instead of our time together. Truthfully, if I wanted to have a strong family, it would take intentional planning and a compromise between family and work.

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Title- How to Have a Strong Family Bond Picture- family together and heart in two hands

10 Ways to have a strong family bond

While there are days and seasons of life when being a parent resembles a circus act, keeping the family united doesn’t have to mean forsaking everything else.  In fact, the ideas below have helped us discover a more balanced life and have resulted in a happier home.

Have tech-free time from phones and devices.

Place boundaries on device usage and watch the family blessings unfold. Together, you’ll experience authentic relationships and make the beauty of face to face conversation a reality.

For example, we have have (mostly) tech-free dinners to keep us focused on each other and not distracted.  We try to keep devices away from the table and protect these precious minutes together.

Connect through prayer and Bible study.

Truthfully, one of the best ways to build a strong family bond is through prayer and regular Bible study.  I promise that it doesn’t have to be fancy or boring, either.

We discovered that having a loose, flexible, yet meaningful family Bible study time is easier than we ever thought possible!

To keep it simple, we read a few Bible verses a day and use the templates in the Family Bible Study Toolkit as our guide tor how to process the Scripture together.

My kids LOVE the Bible activities and it helps them understand what they read.  As a result, they’re learning so much about the character of God and His plan for their life.

Family Bible Study Toolkit Templates

This Bible study resource for families has been a game changer for us for sure!

Learn more about the Family Bible Study Toolkit here

Plan family fun.

Kids crave deep connections with their family, whether or not they admit it, and look forward to having fun together. Grab your calendar and carve out some family time and watch your relationships grow.

Do you need inspiration for your next family fun day? Check out these 101 ways to have fun at home with kids and plan something special.

Keep lines of communication open

Create an atmosphere of trust and make your home a place where a deep conversation is welcome and encouraged. By making your home a haven, a soft place to land and to be loved, you will cement the family bond and grow your relationship in the process.

Have regular family meetings where you share your feelings

While it may be hard to hear when things in your family aren’t working, it’s crucial to give everyone a chance to be heard.  Practicing regular family meetings will help peacefully resolve issues and celebrate victories, too.

Be gracious and forgiving.

At the root of healthy family relationships is grace and understanding. Remember, we share our lives and home with imperfect sinners, just like us. When a member of the family has stumbled and fallen, may we embrace them, flaws and all, in the grace offered freely to us at the cross.

Guard your tone of voice and words

When weariness sets in and we’re longing for true rest, our guard can be down.  It may not be easy to choose kindness over crabbiness, but relationships will be strengthened as we dig deep and pray hard for words laced with compassion.

Laugh together

When’s the last time you laughed and were silly as a family? Creating special family traditions, especially ones built around laughter, is the perfect way to make memories. Kids love and remember those silly family traditions, even if it seems simple to the adults.

Be fully present

While I’m still mastering the art of balance, when I allow myself to be fully engaged in each aspect of my day, especially family time, there is less stress and more joy.  And mama, your family knows if they are competing for your time and attention.

Be grateful

Life is moving and changing at a rapid speed.  When I remind myself of the fleeting moments I have with my family, it helps to cherish our time together and remember how grateful I am for each one of them.

Together, let’s vow to be mindful of practical ways we can create strong families and take intentional steps towards these each day.  Imagine how your family would benefit from intentional acts of family togetherness!

3 Comments

  1. I love this list! One of the things I see when I look at how our family has dealt with technology and the struggles that younger families are having now is we had built a strong family bond (like you say in your list) before mobile and social technology became a thing. Nowadays, families need to build that bond as they deal with the technology and your list is such a helpful focus. I’m sharing today!

  2. The wonderful thing about your list is that everything is SO SIMPLE. We tend to make things so complicated these days! While it certainly takes effort and intentionality, there are so many things we can do on a day-to-day/week-to-week basis to create a strong family bond! I noticed the connection point between all of your suggestions was communication. I’m such a big believer in better communication in families – it’s one thing I’m really trying to achieve with my blog! And just like you, reminding people (and let’s be honest – reminding MYSELF, too!) that it can be so simple! -Mauri @ http://www.theamericanpatriette.com

  3. Hi Sarah, this is great! Thanks for sharing these ideas for less stress and more joy. My daughter is a homeschooling mom and I’ll be sharing this with her too!

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