If you’re new in these parts, here’s what you need to know about my family for this to make sense:
- listening to God and obeying Him is our top priority
- we have five kids ranging from 1-13
- we’re staying at a campground in a somewhat remote location on the Italian island of Sardinia while we wait for our immigration status to be sorted out.
So here we are, doing life as a family, surrounded by other families doing the same. Except, the other families are on vacation. And we…are not exactly on vacation. We don’t have a car, so our sight seeing options are limited. We have no house or job to go back to, and we don’t know how long we’re staying or where we’ll live next.
Which is hard.
But we have no debt, no responsibilities aside from caring for and educating our children, and we have the privilege of daily being surprised and delighted by God’s provision. Whether it’s fresh fruit or a ride to the beach, He’s thought of everything. He provided things we never would have asked for, like a pool for the kids.
But living out in the open, our family is on display 24-7. When tempers flare or tantrums erupt, there’s no place to retreat. There’s a (self imposed) pressure to perfectly exemplify the principles we teach everywhere we go.
And at the end of a day of intense pressure, I heard the words every parent dreads: “I’ve been watching your family, observing your parenting, and I noticed…”
Gulp.
I mentally prepared for criticism/correction/advice, but instead heard, “…how much peace you have. Your children aren’t perfect, but they’re so secure, and you’re so calm with them. Watching you gives me so much hope for what families can be.”
Which prompted two (seemingly contradictory) thoughts:
- We need to relax and have more grace with the kids
- We need to up our game
Our kids have weathered every transition imaginable (except divorce and death) this summer, so obviously we need to be patient with them. At the same time, these compliments made me realize we have something rare. Something more families need and want. And we would be selfish to keep it to ourselves.
So it’s time to up our game. If we work out the kinks in daily life,we can do more of what we’re good at (modeling a lifestyle of listening to God and obeying him with abandon).
Admit it: you have treasure to give away. In family life, it’s isn’t just dysfunction that’s magnified. Gifts (spiritual and otherwise) are refined in the crucible of family like nowhere else.
What’s working in your family? What treasure have you (collectively) been given? What one step can you take to up your game so more people can enjoy the treasure you’ve been given?