A Momentary Reprieve

Last night our friends did cheer me up and even though a few of the kids were still attempting to push me over. the. edge. I did my best to ignore them and focus on the fun we were having. Mike kept talking about mounting Kari (i't not what you might be thinking, get your mind out of my gutter) and we enjoyed some really good food.

I was feeling quite discouraged all day yesterday but went to bed swearing that I'd be find in the morning. That might have happened had I not been awakened by a barking dog that one of the kids or their guests was bugging at one a.m. and waking up to some defiance about church from John, who just better be getting up this morning and going with us. That's one of the non-options. You want to eat, you go to church. Sure, he can choose not to go, but he can also choose to live somewhere else if he doesn't like our rules. I"m sure that some of you would say that this is absolutely wrong to force a kid to go to church, but to tell you the truth we don't have much resistance. There are some family systems where it is non-negotiable for kids to miss siblings ball games because that is just what their family does. What refusing to go to church here signifies is rebellion. It's an hour a week that require, no more than that. Refusing to go has nothing to do with that hour, but everything to do with showing that you are a participating member of the family system and that you are respectful. We have only had two of our twelve who have refused, and it was when they were at a point in their lives when they were heading down a very long path.

So this morning I"m dealing with that and wondering if possibly today really isn't going to be that much better after all.