God forgives for falling short of family ideal

When it comes to family life, there is a definite tension between what’s real and ideal, isn’t there?

And the fact that we live in a culture that wants to normalize everything doesn’t help. But that is sometimes how we try to cope. The temptation is to try to do away with the ideal and call whatever’s real, normal. Down deep inside, I think, we all know better.

You can tell me my dysfunctional family is normal, but I know the truth.

We don’t live in an ideal world. People do get divorced. Believe it or not, you aren’t the first to have problems raising your kids.

In the midst of what’s real, we long for ideal because we want better for our children and grandchildren. We like the sound of a man and a woman falling in love and staying in love for life. We like the ideal of kids growing up and doing the right thing.

Regardless of what culture or experience tells us, in the back of our minds we still long for the ideal, the way things “ought” to be. We can’t get away from it.

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