So I am hanging out at It's A Grind Coffee House in Miramar, trying to get focused on writing a message for our That's Amore series... and the subject?? In-Laws!!
Now, this is a subject that affects every marriage and yet, there is not a lot of stuff written about it to help married people out (there are however, lots of jokes and horror stories!)...
It is has been a crazy morning featuring a Dr visit and 2 puking episodes (Zachary is sick...) and Ryan falling asleep for about 1.5 minutes and then back up trying to crawl...so I have just now been able to begin to work on this...
Oh, by the way, the Bible has a couple of in-law stories...but most of these are jacked up situations...one of the things I love about the Bible is it never holds back a punch or shows only the good side of people...you get the full picture (the next message I am writing is about Samson!)...the good and the bad and the ugly...
So, I need your help...how are your in-laws? How do you treat them and they you? What have you learned or do different now than when you were first married? If you want to be confidential, feel free to email me at jeremyh@visitoasis.org and I will keep it between you and me!! Thanks ahead of time!
We may be getting ready to launch the NewSpring Greenville campus in just
over a week, but in the midst of it all, we’re moving right along with the
plans ...
4 comments:
Some observations from someone who doesn't live near his in-laws.
-My in laws are good people, my wife is who she is and who I love in large part because of them.
-My in laws didn't raise me. There will always be a significant amount of ignorance about them on my part and about me on their part.
-My in laws don't see me in my natural habitat. I'm nostly a fish-out-of-water when they see me.
-My in laws have vastly different life experiences and a different view of the world than I do or even my parents.
-We speak the same language, but we hear words through very different filters.
-There's a lot to love about my in laws. So much that it isn't worth focusing on what I might not appreciate.
-My son deserves to know these wonderful people to the fullest extent our circumstances allow. I owe it to him to pursue a relationship with them.
-One way to express love for my wife is to demonstrate how much I appreciate her family.
i happen to have wonderful in-laws. joel and i started dating when i was 15 and before we even went out, joel's dad told me he could see me as a wife for one of his boys. and amazingly, he didn't scare me off! i fell in love with his middle son, joel (the best one, i think!) and the rest is history. they are awesome and we have a great relationship. they're not pushy and they let us do what we want. they're also very wise and have given us lots of advice in the past. good luck with the sermon!
Wow, thanks Kevin and Jenn...great insights... I appreciate your help!
I live right next door to my son and daughter-in-law...a potentially dangerous scenario, some might say!
We try to give them their space, and the freedom to live their lives as though we weren't right on the other side of the wall, while letting them know we are available to them whenever they want us or need us.
Sometimes I think we stay away on purpose more than we would like, to avoid seeming as though we are over-bearing or interfering.
With 2 little grandsons right next door, it's so tempting to forget that while we are their extended family...we are not their immediate family, and we cannot place ourselves in the center of every activity they do.
So, we call first (usually!), and try not to offer unsolicited advice (although when your grandkids are involved, sometimes that is VERY hard!)
As a mother-in-law, I love my in-law children so much, and hope that I effectively convey to them how dearly I would love to adopt them as my own...except that their parents would not exactly appreciate that! I believe they love me, too, and because of the love and respect we have for each other, our family enjoys a really special relationship with each other.
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