Children of Unstability

Ann and I have lived in our present house for five years which is the longest we have lived anywhere the past twenty-three years. We are glad to be settled in for a change, at least for the moment :) In talking with our kids we have come to realize that their reality in some of our moves has been much different from ours. We lived on campus for 3 years during grad school and experienced tremendous community. We thought our kids had the same experience. On campus they did enjoy it, but at their new grade school they were both miserable. At the time we had no idea.

Along similar lines, Angie over at living on both ends-an exploraton of best and worst has a wonderful post whose title I copied here about a conversation she had with her son. She allowed him to share his heart about the impact her divorce and past moves has had on him. She listened, was not defensive, and did not make it about her.

I encourage you to listen to your kids hearts with the same courage Angie displayed. She lived out the gospel by suffering for the sake of her son in listening to his hurt. She was hurting too, but chose to put that aside for the moment. Later in the evening, she shared her ache over the chaos that was her life and the glorious wonder of a deep conversation with her teenage son with the man she shares life with today.