Living in the same house...

...but not living the same life.

I stumbled on this phrase on one of these, shall I say, "reality TV shows." When commenting about another family, the lady said: "they are all living in the same house but not living the same life." What a statement to make...indeed I was aghast and watched in irritation how right she was. I've never seen such a disjointed family - then my introspection started...

Living in the same house and not living in sync... Now I'm not saying that everyone under the same roof needs to live a "uniform" life - uniformity is not unity. However, it is important that in discovering and expressing our uniqueness that we remain united and in sync. That's what families are for...to support each other as they each discover & do what they need to to attain their God given destinies.

It's so unfortunate that some nuclear families are even worse than Margaret Mead described: "Nobody has ever before asked the nuclear family to live all by itself in a box the way we do. With no relatives, no support, we've put it in an impossible situation." It's ridiculous that individual members in one family actually box themselves in - and sometimes it's all due to parents' shortcomings. Sadly, some parents are so busy that they give their children so many boxes to keep them engaged such that between the TV, video games, DS, Xbox & all the other boxes, "family time" is becoming an "endangered specie."

Letty Cottin Pogrebin said: "If the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable - each segment distinct." Yes we are all distinct but we must never forget that the segments together make for a better orange...

Matthew 12:25 tells us that: "Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them...any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart." (Good News Version).
On the flip side, Psalm 68:6a says: "God places the lonely in families..." (NLT). Obviously God doesn't want us to be lonely or out of sync i.e. be divided. Families are God's idea.

Desmond Tutu put it so well: "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." I encourage us to take a moment and revive "family time/life" starting with your nuclear family and then your extended family. I'm available to give you some suggestions - if you contact me. Please don't turn away or discard God's gifts to you...

Bottom line: A family in harmony will prosper in everything (Chinese Proverb).