Staying Connected

Audio By Carbonatix

I was with all of my kids and grandkids recently, and it’s pretty amazing to think about the different dynamics present in a multi-generation family gathering. It was me, Jane, our four adult children, our two daughters-in-law, and our eight grandkids. Ages range from one year old up to mid-60s. As I looked around, I saw eight adults and eight kids, and then I thought of just how different some of us are from one another. 

Obviously, we have a lot in common. We have similar perspectives on faith and on how we feel about each other. But we also have a lot of differences. We see many problems and solutions differently. We have different approaches to life, and some of our personalities are very different from one another. Most of those differences don’t cause too much conflict or consternation, but other differences definitely can, especially if we’re not careful. 

We’ve proactively worked to stay connected through times of hardship and in instances of deep disagreement. Just like most families, we have had seasons where staying connected has been easy and seasons where staying connected was more challenging. We’re in an easy season right now, but if my life experience tells me anything, it’s that things don’t stay the same forever. I imagine that we’ll have some more challenging times coming our way at some point in the future. And I don’t say that to be pessimistic, but to be realistic. We all know that life has its ups and downs, and relationships feel the impact of those ups and downs. 

If you’re in a hard season right now with your loved ones, I hope you know that you’re not alone. Trust me, there are a lot of families who are feeling the divide over issues like religion and ideology, politics, communication, conflict, hopes for loved ones to change, and many other topics that have a significant impact on how we show up in our loved ones’ lives. If you relate to the hard part of things right now, I would encourage you to do whatever you can to make your relationship priority number one and to make sure that the areas of disagreement you have never take over that top spot. Debates and arguments will come and go, but you want to stay connected to family permanently!