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You Are In The Same Boat...Paddle Together


What words can describe a Mom's heart for her children?  

The longing and hope for unity and favor between my boys is palpable, as it is for all parents.  This is the heart of a parent...to see a close relationship between their children for as long as they live.  Maybe because it is our desire to see them cared for, happy and loved all of the days of their lives.

How I wish I could implant within their minds the wisdom that comes from a few years under the belt.  

Reality changes perceptions and expectations and allows us to embrace each other with acceptance.  Time seems to bring less competition and more collaboration.  

I can't make them get along or like each other today any more then making them sit beside each other when they were young worked.  No amount of cajoling, pleading, texting, reminding or talking can "make them happy."

The best advice in sibling rivalry and relationship that I received as a young Mom was from Dr. Leman's book.  Basically to live with the belief and the way of thinking that our kids are in the same boat and they need to either paddle together or sink together.  

When they were little that meant that I took myself out of the role of mediator and out of the way of fixing it.  If there was a fight...they were all in time out.  

It is much more frightening and disconcerting now when they are out of the house and when it is none of my business.  This coming from the oldest sister of a gaggle of girls!  I know how misunderstandings and perceptions can take over logic.  While my sisters and I don't talk very often-I know who would be there for me in a second if I needed them.  

So chill out Moms and Dads and let our kids go to paddle their own boats through life.  Right?! Get a grip on the healthy boundaries of what is in our property and what is not?  Take responsibility for our feelings, attitudes and choices while maintaining a responsibility to our children.  

AND...pray like crazy that God would bind together into a strand of three (or two or one or twenty) that will never be broken.  

Trust God with our children whether they are unborn, five or 60.  

That will be the hard part.


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