Marv and I have been living in quarantine for over a month now. The novelty has worn off, and we are creating our new normal. Marv is counseling hurting people on the phone and with video chats from our home. I am teaching my music students through FaceTime and now doing speaking seminars online with Zoom. Our children have so generously bought and delivered us food, and I am so glad to be quarantined…
We can’t have a healthy family without some conflict. It’s normal because we are intimate with each other. Our goal is to know how to be a problem solver: Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Romans 14:19 [NIV] Where do our conflicts come from? The book of James highlights our personal motives: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t…
Dear Joyce, My husband and I argue about how to raise our two children. We have disagreement in parenting styles, on consequences and most everything regarding our children. Mary Dear Mary, It is very common to have different opinions on how to raise your children. You were raised in different homes with different styles so you are both comfortable with your upbringing. When parents are tired, they tend to…
Family conflicts are unavoidable. We have many relationships to manage: husband-wife, mother-child, father-child, brother-sister, sister-sister, brother-brother. How do you handle disagreements? Sibling rivalry? What are you doing to equip your children to deal with conflict resolution? The fact that you have differences is not as important as how you handle your differences. There are five styles of handling conflict: “I win” – Relationship is not valued. Needs are met. It’s…
