REBUILDING FAMILY THROUGH CHANGE/LOSS

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."1 Corinthians 13:4-7

"Relationships are built on all different foundations, but the ones that last are built on trust and open, honest conversations "- Nishan Panwar

Family relationships are complex. The biblical standard of marriage and family can be difficult to maintain. Especially in an age where divorce is commonplace, families frequently move from place to place, stress and loss are frequent issues that we, as family; deal with on a continual basis. Families go through phases - beginning with marriage, having young children, having teenagers and then launching our children into adulthood. THEN our children start the process of "life" the same as we did. During all this time, add in poor choices WE ALL make as parents, children and family members ; makes for a complicated mix of situations. Also this makes for difficulty maintaining trust, honesty and commitment to "hang in there" through the good and bad in life.

I'm learning to acknowledge the poor choices I've made as a parent, child, sister and former mate. Difficult process to do! However, we can choose to "hang onto the mistakes" or make steps to repair relationships and make amends for what WE contribute. As its often said, every situation has "two sides". So how do we begin rebuilding and moving forward?



TWO IMPORTANT IDEAS TO REMEMBER WHEN ATTEMPTING TO REBUILD FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS:

WE START WHERE WE ARE IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS TO MOVE FORWARD...

 FAMILY UNITY IS SEEN AS PERFECTION WHEN IT IS A "WORK" IN PROGRESS....

FATHER GOD - THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNCONDITIONAL LOVE THAT PROVIDES A STRONG EXAMPLE OF THE LOVE/COMPASSION THAT WE ARE TO HAVE FOR THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO US. HELP US STRIVE TO HAVE A HEART OF UNDERSTANDING INSTEAD OF A HEART OF SELFISHNESS WHEN STARTING TO ATTEMPT TO REPAIR FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS. . HELP AND GUIDE US TO DO OUR PART IN HEALING HURTS AND MOVING FORWARD. THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE, COMFORT AN GUIDANCE DURING THIS TIME. AMEN.