By Jim and Grace Vine

To think we are nearly 1/6 of the way through 2010 already – where do the weeks go? As we get older, time seems to go even faster! My mum assured me of that when she was ninety, and since I was hoping it would slow down a bit, I was surprised and not a little disappointed that I wasn’t going to have time to do all the things I wanted to do!  Since then I’ve reasoned that time goes slowly for those who are bored, or in pain. So I will happily stay where I am, and let the pages of the diary turn like the wind is blowing them!

Which leads me to say, that if / when there are sticking points in our marriages and /or parenting, wisdom suggests that we do something about it now, not put it off, thinking to deal with it ‘later’.  The time to do it ‘later’ has a way of never coming.

So, here are some practical ways to build some more good ideas into your life – learning from the wisdom and experience of others even if your own family wasn’t ideal. Everett and Kirby Worthington remind us that while we may have been ‘victims’ of whatever has happened in our lives, there is no need to continue to be ‘victimized’! Learn some new ways!

Sometimes we feel very alone trying to fix things.  Husbands and wives rarely see things exactly the same. What seems a huge mountain to one can be ignored as a mole hill by the other. Have you discovered that men and women are different?  Bill Wilkie and Gary Chapman both help to explain and encourage. 

And speaking of encouragement – are you good at doing it? Or do you just long for it to come your way? Alan Bailey reminds us that we all need encouragement, and if we start to give out a bit more, more is likely to come our way, too. 

Then a day comes when we must literally take hands off our kids, and let them fly away. Marriage, Uni, an interstate job, missionfield. Are you ready? We’ve gone through that process three times, and have been ‘empty nesters’ for nineteen years. We do understand, and found a few things that can help.  Then Rene, the last of our brood to let go of, shares her heart again in ‘Rene’. What’s she thinking about now??

Happy reading ….

Jim and Grace Vine