From Family Life to family life

"I'm going from Family Life to family life," Jerrie Goewey says. "They've really been intertwined all along."

She's referring to her 19 years as director of the Albany diocesan Family Life Office, a role she is leaving in order to work for her family's business, Team Goewey.

But even in her role in the Diocese, Mrs. Goewey worked with family: She and her husband Ken started as volunteer co-directors of the office 19 years ago.

Family is all

"A lot of how I worked had to do with my husband," she said. "He influenced the direction and planning. We were blessed to do this together. There was a real mutuality in the work we were doing -- and the marriage we were living."

A mother of four and grandmother of two, Mrs. Goewey found that her family kept her close to the needs of the people she was serving. "My family kept me honest," she said.

Commenting on her status as a working mother, she said that juggling the two roles was at times easy and other times difficult. She said that is one of the challenges facing families today.

Media pressure

This challenge is made worse by the media. "The media keep anxiety at a high level," she said, by creating false needs. As a result, many families are tied up in extracurricular activities and the belief that they must provide their children with material goods.

"There is a lot of chaos," she said. "Families need permission to put limits on their time."

Families need time to be together, Mrs. Goewey said. Rather than being filled with activities, this time should be used to do nothing. "Families need to take the time just to be present to one another, to sit together or take a walk," she said.

Simpler life

Recently, while watching her one-year-old granddaughter, Mrs. Goewey noticed that the child was happy playing with wooden blocks, a colander and spoon, and magazines.

"What does she need as a toy?" Mrs. Goewey asked. "We need to take time to see what our children need."

BY giving children the latest toys on the market, parents may not be meeting their children's real needs, Mrs. Goewey said. "We create artificial needs for our children," she said. "What are our children going to need to survive and be good citizens? They will need vision, imagination, and ideas."

Missing the volunteers

These are the same qualities that many of the 500 volunteers who work with the Family Life Office possess, according to Mrs. Goewey. Asked what she will miss the most about her work for the Diocese, she responded: "The people." She was impacted the most by the women of faith she worked with.

"These women of faith, both religious and lay, have absolutely moved mountains," she said. "I'm a much stronger person, a more faith-filled person, because of the women I've met."

Being involved in the family life field on a national level helped Mrs. Goewey see the benefits of working in the Albany Diocese.

"I'm lucky to be in Albany," she said. "Bishop Hubbard is a prayerful leader who is always available. The Diocese is extremely blessed. I hope my next boss is as nice to work for." [[In-content Ad]]