When families are faced with crises and challenges-- unemployment, the untimely death of a family member, natural disasters and chronic illnesses-- those who seem to weather the crisis best are often those who have an active spiritual dimension to their lives together. And in times of joy and celebration families with strong spiritual lives rejoice in deeper and more wondrous ways. But what exactly is it that characterizes faith and spirituality in family life? Identifying resilience, strength, and faith in the stories of all kinds of families, "Sacred Stories of Ordinary Families "motivates readers to think about how faith shapes their own family lives. Drawn from Diana R. Garland's extensive interviews with 110 families, this book includes stories from ordinary families whose lives together both reveal and rely on extraordinary faith. Going beyond traditional nuclear families, these stories also give voice to single-parent families, remarried or blended families, single adults, and older adults both married and widowed. Connecting these personal stories with the overarching Christian story and with biblical texts, Garland explores the diversity of structures these families represent and the ways they seek to live their faith in everyday life. Readers will be encouraged to connect their own experiences with the sacred share their own stories of faith with one another and with their congregational community, and recognize the power of interpreting their personal stories to unify and strengthen their families. Discussion questions for each chapter encourage parents or adult Sunday school groups to think about how their faith shapes their everyday lives, how their faith develops through family experiences, and how they define the meaning and purpose of their lives together. By grounding their understanding in biblical stories and themes and identifying faith as a resource for coping with everyday stress and major crises, will leave readers with a stronger sense of how they, too, are living the faith.
