water under the bridge.

the other night matt and i were talking about the purpose of families and the reasons we go through the things we go through. we decided that families are our favorite aspect of God's plan. here we have a group of people who know the worst of eachother and don't give up on oneanother. how like our Savior's love for us that is! if we want to be like Him, the best place for the practice is within our own families.

just as forgiveness is at the heart of Christ's mission, forgiveness is vital to the success of our family.

when the kids were just babies and we were teaching them conflict resolution one would say, "i'm sorry" and the other would respond, "it's okay." it never really sat well with us because we felt like we were teaching them to say "it's okay that you just hit me." it's not okay. so what would they say instead?

"i forgive you" has become such a common phrase in our home since then. even matt and i tell it to oneanother daily as we work through our many flaws. i am thankful for that minor change in language that has put the need for forgiveness alongside the need for repentance, both indispensable tools for our family relationships.

you must know if you've been following our story that ossi and i are constantly saying "i'm sorry" and "i forgive you" to one another. it's no secret that we butt heads. you may be less aware that our oldest son liam and his daddy are easily entangled in contention. they are so alike that they drive one another nuts. here's the latest passive agressive drawing liam left on the kitchen table...
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is this dad getting struck by lightning? yes. yes it is.

every relationship in our household suffers in some way. we are the perfect mix of personalities to push buttons and purge flaws. we couldn't win without a chance for a clean slate, which is a treasured gift of the Savoir in our home. how indebted we are to Him.

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